Best Nightmare Ever
by Nyla Evergale
Summary: So on our way to Mexico there's a plane crash and are sent to Middle Earth. So now me and my friends have to survive and keep the story from wandering off from the original. What can possibly go wrong?
1. Guys, we're not in Kansas anymore

**I own nothing. All characters and rights belong to J.R.R Tolkien. The Original Characters are real friends of mine and most things they say belong to them. "**_Everything in quotations and italics is Spanish." _

It all started on an ordinary day. We were going to Mexico for a school trip. It was my first time in a plane, so I was nervous. I asked the flight attendants over and over again if the flight was going to be safe. They reassured me it was safe, but I still had a sense of foreboding. My friend Paige was sitting to my right while another kid was to my left. Alejandro and Lucero were in front of us with Cynthia to Lucero's left. The rest of the class was sitting in the other seats.

Now, we were all Latinos (except for Paige, who was African American), so going to Mexico was exciting because it brought back memories. Lucero and I had curly hair, Paige's was braided, Cynthia's was straight and Alejandro's was short and spiked up. Paige and I had glasses so we had to be extra careful not to lose them. Paige was also the tallest among us with Alejandro a close second, Cynthia and I tied for third and Lucero being the shortest among us.

We were about to land when there was a loud roar and everything was a mixture of white and a bit of orange. Then everything went black, white, and black again. I was the first to wake up and saw Paige, Cynthia, Alejandro and Lucero in front of me.

"Oh, no," I cried. "Are you guys okay? Can you hear me?"

"Ah!" said Alejandro as he got up. "Quit screaming in my ear."

"Ugh, I got a headache," said Lucero and she started to rub her head.

"What's wrong?" asked Cynthia as she wakened.

"Ugh, guys," said Paige as she looked around us, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

That's when I turned around and what I saw nearly gave me a heart attack. We were in the Council of Elrond, in Middle Earth


	2. Look at his eyebrows!

I'm proud to say I didn't faint, but I did scream when I saw them. The others looked at me like I was crazy, but when they saw we were no longer in the plane, their eyes widened. I opened my mouth to tell them in Spanish where we were and what not to do, but Alejandro beat me to it.

"Don't touch me or I'll fuck your shit up."

"Alejandro, what are you doing?" I whispered desperately. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"It's a dream so they can't hurt us," he said calmly. "And if it's not, which is impossible, they now know not to mess with me."

"Oh my gosh, they're so adorable!" Lucero said, looking over to the dwarves.

"_Please you have to listen to me_," I said. "_This is either a dream, which I really hope it is, or we really are in Middle Earth. It looks too realistic to be a dream so we just have to assume it is real. Do not provoke them because they can really kill us so just let me talk since I've read the books, saw the movies and have read many fan fictions in which this happens."_

"I think this really is a dream though," said Paige.

"You understood what I said?" I asked astonished. "Since when do you understand Spanish?"

"I don't know," she said. From the tone of her voice I could tell she was confused. So was I. "I just understood what you said."

"Okay, definitely a dream," I said as I knew she couldn't speak Spanish. I pinched myself, desperately hoping this was a dream. But a second later, we were still there.

"Maybe it's one of us that's dreaming," said Cynthia. "We should all pinch ourselves and just wait to see who wakes up."

We pinched ourselves but we were still where we were. That's when Gandalf spoke:

"Well, children, you are definitely not dreaming. I'm Gandalf the Grey. Now, what might your names be?"

"Oh, um, I'm Daniela," I managed to get out. I was amazed that I hadn't yet passed out.

"Hello, I'm Paige," Paige said with a small wave. She somehow managed to keep calm.

"I'm Alejandro."

"Hey, I'm Lucero."

"Hi, I'm Cynthia."

"Well, those certainly are strange names," Gandalf said with a smile. "I'm guessing that you are not of Middle Earth, and that you've no idea where you are."

I looked over at Paige because we both had seen the movies and had an idea of where we were. The others had absolutely no idea of where they were so we took it upon ourselves to explain.

"Actually Paige and I have a pretty good idea of where we are," I said. I had no idea how they would react so I took a deep breath and prepared to explain. "We are at the moment at the Council of Elrond."

If I could I'd describe the look on everyone's faces.

"I wish we had a camera," I whispered to Paige, "the look on their faces is priceless."

We both laughed quietly and I was ready to explain further when Elrond stood. He was about to speak but Paige was faster.

"Look at his eyebrows!" she said with a huge grin.

I looked at her like she was insane. _"Paige!"_ I whispered, hoping she really would be able to understand, _"What are you doing? You can't say that to him. We must behave if we want to survive."_

"You smiled too," she said, "and it's more a compliment than an insult."

"Wait, what's the Council of Elrond?" asked Alejandro.

"It a council in which they are trying to figure out what to do with the One Ring," explained Paige.

Before anyone else could say anything, Elrond spoke:

"Welcome, children, to Rivendell. I am Lord Elrond. How you came by the knowledge of this Council I do not know, but you are most welcomed. I will speak with you all later on this subject. Now, as I was saying before our new guest joined us. Frodo, bring forth the Ring."

At this I gasped, luckily no one heard. Frodo rose from his seat and walked over to a pedestal. We were seating in front of Elrond so we had a good view of the Ring. I admit I was horrified by it because I knew what it could do. But by some magic or something, I felt nothing towards it except I felt cold in its presence. I looked over at the others and whispered if they felt anything, but they told me they just felt cold. The members of the council were murmuring amongst themselves, but then a man, which I recognized as Boromir, stood and spoke.

"It is a gift...a gift to the foes of Mordor!" he said. "Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, held the forces of Mordor at bay...by the blood of our people are your lands kept safe? Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy...let us use it against him!"

"That sounds legit," said Alejandro.

"Don't encourage him,"I whispered.

"You cannot wield it. None of us can. The one ring answers to Sauron alone...it has no other master," Aragorn said from his seat.

Boromir turned to Aragorn and said, "And what would a Ranger know of this matter?"

Then Legolas stood and, as we all know, defended Aragorn. And so the Council continued as we all know it did (with us staying quiet and let the story go on). Frodo announced he would take the Ring and the Fellowship was formed. Once they were together, Elrond said, "Nine companions, so be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

Clearly this did not go well with Gandalf, for a second later he declared, "Actually, it's _fourteen_ companions. The children shall be joining us in this quest."


	3. Enter Shelby, the Cat

When he uttered these words, I am pretty sure I lost it.

"What?!" I cried. "You want us, children, to join a ridiculously dangerous quest?"

"Why of course," Gandalf said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The Valar has you here for a reason. That reason might be for you to join us in our 'ridiculously' dangerous quest."

"Who's the Valar?" asked Lucero.

"He's one of their gods, I think," said Paige.

"You are right, Lady Paige," said Elrond. "You are here for a reason. He wouldn't do this if he didn't know it was unnecessary."

"But we're inexperienced in warfare; we've never seen or fought with swords and bows. We would only delay you in this quest." I said.

"You are not doing a very good job of selling yourself," said Gandalf.

"I'm not trying to sell myself!" I said in an exasperated voice.

"I thought you loved the Lord of the Rings," whispered Cynthia.

"I do," I said. "I mean don't get me wrong, being asked to join the Fellowship is a HUGE honor to me, but I don't want to die here, in a world where no one knows me."

"Enough," Elrond said. The tone he used was enough to shut me up. "You shall join the Fellowship and you will be taught to defend yourselves."

"Awesome," said Alejandro. "We get to use weapons."

"You won't think it's so awesome when we're fighting for our lives," I said.

Lucero gasped and said, "Ooh, you got mean, Daniela."

"Now, follow me and we shall talk about your knowledge," said Elrond. Then what happened next made me recheck my sanity. We heard a female scream come from behind. We turned and saw a cat pounce on, unfortunately, Lord Elrond. He grunted when it jumped onto his back and started to climb towards his head. It then jumped off him and landed in front of us. But that's not then thing that really made me recheck my sanity.

It opened its mouth and said, "What the fuck? Where am I? Daniela! Paige! Where am I and why are you so tall?"

"Merry," whispered Pippen to his friend. "That cat just spoke."

"Shut up Pippen," replied Merry.

"Okay, either that cat just spoke, or I'm losing my sanity," I said when it spoke my name. I'm pretty sure everyone else was rechecking their sanity just like me.

"Oh my gosh, Shelby, is that you?" asked Paige.

"Yes it's me," cried Shelby. "Wait, Daniela, did you just say _cat_?" Now, for a quick description of my, ugh, _feline_ friend. She is actually supposed to be human so I don't know what happened there. She was human when we were on the plane so it must be some type of magic or something. She was of German decent and had straight brown hair. She was also pale, a bit like Lucero. I knew her since, like seventh grade, so we were sort of close.

"Oh, really? You're just going to forget me?" said Lucero.

"Well, _excuse_ me," said Shelby sarcastically.

"Who might this young lady be?" asked Gandalf.

"I'm Shelby," she replied, extending a hand-paw, I mean.

"Wow, how can you be so calm?" Cynthia asked. "You are in a completely different world _and _you're a cat."

As if she just noticed this, she looked down at herself and at her tail. She then let out a banshee scream. It caused us to cover our ears; I can only imagine how painful it was for the elves.

"I'm a cat!" she cried. "How did this happen?"

"How are we supposed to know?" said Alejandro. "You're the one who's the cat. You're supposed to know what is happening to your own body."

She looked like she was seriously thinking about mauling his face. Her claws were out of their sockets so she could really maul his face, which she nearly accomplished. She pounced and was aiming for his face, but Lucero grabbed her and was trying to calm her down. It was pretty funny because Shelby was cursing like a sailor.

I looked over at Lord Elrond, Gandalf and the Fellowship, hoping they could stop the fight. So far, Gandalf was looking at Cynthia and Shelby in amusement; the Fellowship was just looking at us like we were insane. In truth, if I were in their shoes, I'd think we were crazy too.

"Enough," said Elrond. His tone quickly silenced everyone. "We will discuss this matter in my study." The way he said this sounded like, 'Let's get out of the open before any more children suddenly appear. "Follow me."

We followed him and Paige leaned over and whispered, _"Hey, if the Hobbits survived the quest, we can't we?"_

I thought about it and realized she made a very good point.

"Fair enough." I replied.

"What are Hobbits?" asked Shelby. She calmed down and was walking with us to the study.

"I think they were those four short men with the hairy legs," said Cynthia.

"They were so cute!" said Lucero.

I wondered on how Shelby knew the word 'Hobbit' but didn't know what they were. So I decided to conduct a small experiment.

"_Shelby, can you understand me?" _I asked. _"What about you Paige?"_

"Yeah, I understand," replied Shelby.

"Me too," said Paige.

"Interesting," I said.

We came to Lord Elrond's study and entered. He told us to take a seat, but there weren't enough seats so Paige, Cynthia and I stood. Gandalf came with us, so as an act of kindness, and probably to show we had manners, Cynthia gave him her seat. He thanked her and sat.

"You have arrived during one of the most troubling times Middle Earth has ever seen," started Lord Elrond. "As we said before, the Valar has sent you here for a reason. You arrived just in time for the Council, which you knew about before we even told. How did you know?"

"In our world, there was a man named J.R.R. Tolkien." I said. "He, um, thought of a story that eventually became known as 'The Lord of the Rings.' I've read the story, so that's how I knew about this. Some decades later a man known as Peter Jackson made that story into a movie. That's how Paige knew about the council. Many people know about the story through either the books or the movies."

"Do you know about the future?" asked Gandalf with sudden interest.

"Yes," I said. "I don't know how much Paige knows about the story, but I know everything that will happen."

"You must not reveal your knowledge," said Lord Elrond. "You may put everyone in danger if you tell about the future."

"Don't worry, Lord Elrond," said Paige. "We know that much. If we tell then everything will become undone and everything might happen differently."

"Good," he said. He seemed to relax after Paige said that. "I'll have someone take you to your rooms."


	4. It's training time!

"Wait," Shelby said. "What about me? Am I supposed to stay a cat forever?"

"Oh no," said Gandalf as he stood. "You can turn yourself to your normal self whenever you choose. You all were given a special power to help you survive. Lady Shelby was given the power to shape shift and understand any language. Lady Paige can understand any language like Lady Shelby and she can also turn her hands into solid rock. Sir Alejandro can turn his skin into armor, like a dragon's skin. Lady Daniela can create force shields. Lady Cynthia can turn invisible while Lady Lucero can go through even solid rock."

"Awesome!" said Lucero. "We have super powers!"

"Okay, so we have super powers and I can turn back to my human form," said Shelby in an irritated voice. "But _how _do I turn back?"

"Easy," he exclaimed. "Just think of yourself in your human form and you will turn back. It also works that way when you want to turn into an animal."

So Shelby turned back and we were lead to our room. Alejandro obviously got a separate room, being a boy and all, but it was still pretty close; actually it was just next door. As soon as we were alone, we went to Alejandro's room to discuss what was happening.

"So where exactly are we and why are we going on a quest?" Alejandro asked. And for the next hour or so, I explained what was happening and what not to do in Spanish so the elves wouldn't be able to listen.

"…_and so, we cannot save Gandalf, Boromir or anyone else who is supposed to die," _I said. I was nearly finished and was repeating the most important thing so they wouldn't forget.

"Why not?" asked Lucero.

"We can't change the events," I explained. "It's like being in the past; if we change anything, something might go wrong. _Arwen might leave Middle Earth; Sam might not marry Rosie or worst: the Fellowship could fail and Sauron might win the war_. Do you understand how important it is that we stay out of the plot as much as we can?"

They all nodded, and then there was knock on the doorframe. Standing there was Aragorn. He told us that it was time to start our training. We followed him to the armory and he asked us of what we knew.

"What do you know of sword fighting?" Aragorn asked.

"Nothing," said Alejandro. The others said the same thing.

"Well," I said. "We've seen sword fighting, but never participated in it."

"I see," Aragorn said.

"But, hey," said Paige, "if the Hobbits can learn, why can't we?"

"Very well," he said. "And you make a good point. We will go and see if we can find you all suitable weapons."

"Wait," I said. "Why are you teaching us? I thought women in Middle Earth weren't usually taught how to fight." I mean, it _was_ Middle Earth. I saw the movie and saw that they can be pretty sexist, so how come we were learning?

"You are right," he said. "But Gandalf told me and Legolas that we have to teach you how to protect yourselves."

"Who's Legolas?" asked Cynthia.

"The elf that'll be traveling with us," said Paige. She gave her a look that said she still didn't know who it was so Paige explained further, "The guy with the long blonde hair with the bow."

"Oh."

"Enough talk," Aragorn said. "We must begin your training."

We entered the armory and found some suitable swords for each of us, but with some minimal complications. You see, it was our first time holding swords, so the first few we tried, we let the tips fall to the floor since they were pretty heavy. Cynthia nearly cut off her toes when she tried the first sword. But before you say anything, it wasn't as bad as MY first sword. Aragorn was in front of me and I let the tip drop to the floor, where his toes were located. I nearly sliced them off, but he wasn't hurt or mad, or at least he didn't show it.

We left the armory and went to the training grounds. We learned the basics and by far, Lucero, Alejandro and Paige were naturals. Shelby, Cynthia and I had some problems, but Aragorn was kind and patient so we caught on quick. After two hours he dismissed us to our rooms. On our way we ran into the hobbits, who invited us to lunch. We couldn't decline, well, Alejandro could but majority rule. We told them that we had to clean up first and we would meet them outside for lunch. We went to our rooms and changed from our original clothes and into Middle Earth attire. The others had no problem, except Alejandro and me. He wouldn't change because he didn't want to wear leggings, but we managed to convince him. My problem was that I don't wear dresses.

"Come on Daniela," said Cynthia. "You'll look pretty."

"I don't care, I'm not wearing a dress," I said.

"Why won't you wear a dress?" asked Lucero.

"I feel very exposed with a dress," I said. This was true. I hated the feeling I got whenever I wore one, I mean it feels so open wearing one.

"You can wear your shorts under it," suggested Paige. I agreed to it and we left to meet the Hobbits. Lunch was great and Bilbo told us about his adventure. But then Legolas came and took us to the archery grounds. He asked the same of us like Aragorn and we answered the same. It went well for the most part. Shelby, Cynthia and Lucero were great and learned quickly, the others weren't that bad, but I was awful. The first time I tried I missed it completely, not to mention I nearly killed an innocent bystander.

So before anything, let me just say, that if one was to take an afternoon stroll, they should steer clear of the archery range. And if you're wondering, the innocent bystander was Erestor. The arrow implanted itself to the tree next to him, which was three feet from him. I immediately apologized and kept on apologizing until he told me I could stop. I still had a guilty feeling after the incident and afterwards, he kept a safe distance from me whenever I carried a bow.

Legolas suppressed a smile with the best of them. He said it was a good try and that if I practiced more I could hit the target. He was as patient and kind as Aragorn, but I was still awful at archery. After two more hours of training, we were dismissed. We went to our rooms and later and had dinner with the others. Bilbo told us his story again and by the time he finished, we were nodding off. Gandalf noticed this and told us to go back to our rooms because we had a full day ahead of us. And so, our first day in Middle Earth and training ended with no one being seriously hurt, yet.


	5. Our first full day in Middle Earth

My arms were sore from yesterday's training and I'm pretty sure everyone else was feeling the same. It was still pretty early when we awoke, and Cynthia suggested we try out our powers. We went to Alejandro's room and tried wake him up so practice he could practice with us.

It turned out to be a futile attempt. The guy slept like a bear and I'm pretty sure I heard him growl at us. We eventually gave up and went outside so we wouldn't disturb anyone if anything went wrong.

Shelby turned into a wolf and tried other animals while Cynthia turned invisible. Paige balled her hand into fist and hit a rock with all her might. The rock broke when it came into contact with her fist. Lucero found another rock and put her hand on it, which went through the rock. I asked them to throw something at me so that I could protect myself with a force shield. They lined up with stones in their hands and were about to throw them when our troubles began.

I guess it might have looked like they were about to stone me because a she-elf ran towards us and scolded them for trying to hit me and me for letting them try to do it. We explained that we had powers that could protect us, but she wouldn't budge. Shelby decided to proof that we had powers by turning into a wolf. This really startled her because she screamed and fainted. We dragged her inside (it was a struggle because she was pretty heavy for an elf), but Shelby was still in wolf form. We were setting her into a chair we found when a man turned a corner and spotted us.

He yelled and tried to tackle her. But he never got close to her because I created a force shield around us. Then there was a scream from somewhere behind us and when we turned, there was another she-elf. She fainted when the man face slammed into my force shield. Luckily for us, Aragorn heard the commotion and ran to us from the direction the second she-elf was coming from and helped the man up. He explained to the man what was happening and the man apologized and left. As he passed us, he shot us a dirty look as if to say he was watching us, especially Shelby.

Aragorn helped us take the she-elves to the infirmary to make sure they weren't hurt. We left afterwards and went to breakfast. There we found Alejandro talking with Boromir. In front of them were five plates filled with food.

"What took you so long?" Alejandro asked. "The Hobbits nearly ate everything! You're lucky I managed to save this much."

"Thanks," we said in unison.

We ate and later retold what happened. He laughed at our luck while Boromir tried to hide a grin at the incident. Apparently that same man was a companion of his and Boromir saw what my force shield did to him; it left a red mark on his face.

"So you made two elves faint and made an enemy and it's not even ten o'clock!" exclaimed Alejandro.

This made us laugh until Gandalf arrived with Aragorn. Aragorn must have told him about our incident because the first thing he did was scold us for being so careless with our powers. He didn't even say 'good morning, how well did you sleep?' But the great Wizard still had a good sense of humor.

"At least you learned to use them when you need them," he added with a grin.

"So when are we going on the quest?" asked Lucero.

"Oh, in a week or so," he said. "But you shouldn't worry about it now."

"He is right," said Aragorn. "You should not worry about the quest yet. Finish your breakfast so that we may begin training.

We finished and went to the training grounds. Aragorn didn't come with us because Elrond asked to speak with him and Gandalf on some private matters.

"I wonder what time it is," said Paige.

"Let me check," said Alejandro and he reached into his pockets.

"You can't use a phone in Middle Earth," I said.

"Why not?" asked Alejandro.

"Well, for one, there are no cell towers in Middle Earth," I said. I mean there was no way that a phone could work in Middle Earth…

"Hey, it works!" he exclaimed as he turned it on. "Oh and by the way, it's ten to eleven."

"What?" I said, "So phones work in Middle Earth, but there's no indoor plumbing? Phones aren't even important if there's only one and you're in a magical land! Indoor plumbing is more important, so why aren't there any proper bathrooms?"

At they all laughed and I joined in. But it still didn't make sense. A phone isn't very useful to people if there's only one and you're stuck in a completely different world. Indoor plumbing is what Middle Earth really needs.

"Like you said, we're in Middle Earth," said Lucero.

"If your phone can work, then so can my IPod!" cried Shelby. She was about to race to our room to retrieve it when Gimli walked past us.

"He's so adorable!" said Lucero with a broad smile.

"What did you say, lass?" he asked in a scary voice.

Before she could answer, I quickly responded:

"She said you have a great looking beard."

"Well, ugh, thank you, lass," he said. And with that he left us.

"I didn't say that," said Lucero.

"I don't think he'd like being told he was adorable," Shelby said. "And why do you think that the dwarves are adorable? The Hobbits are adorable; the dwarves are, well, not the cutest creatures."

"Well, I think they're adorable," she said defensibly.

"If you want an adorable dwarf," I said. "You should have seen Kili from 'The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey' he was by far the cutest dwarf I ever saw."

"I think that was the first time Daniela said someone was cute," said Cynthia.

"Well, before you say anything else, he is dead." I said crossing my arms. "So are the second and third cutest dwarves I ever saw."

At that moment Aragorn arrived with Boromir. He said that Boromir agreed to help us train so that it might go faster. I was fine with that, but what I didn't know was that it marked the beginning of a rocky friendship between me and Boromir.


	6. I refuse to fight my friend

"Just fight back! Is that too much to ask for?" exclaimed Boromir.

"Yes," I responded.

We were training and the men decided to split us up to train. Alejandro, Lucero and Shelby were with Aragorn while Cynthia, Paige and I were with Boromir. My problem right now was that I had to fight Cynthia, who was my best friend. You see, I don't like to fight with anyone, especially if I have a dangerous weapon in my hands that could seriously hurt the other person.

"Look, all you have to do is fight back," he said. I knew his patience was running, but I was more scared to hurt Cynthia than to face the wrath of the Gondorian man.

"I'm not fighting my friend," I said.

"How are you going to defend yourself if you can't even fight?"

"I can fight, but I'm not going to fight her."

"I am your elder so you do as I say!"

"I don't care if you were my father! I'm not fighting her."

"You are the most ill-mannered-"

"Ill-mannered!" I practically screamed. "I'll have you know I'm considered a well behaved child in my world!"

"Then you live in a most barbaric world!"

"Barbaric!" I screamed. Okay, I may be overreacting, but our world isn't _that _barbaric. I mean, at least we have indoor plumbing. "At least we had the decency to create indoor plumbing before rings!"

"You are also the most improper girl that I've ever met!" he said.

"Improper! Well, I at least have the decency to cut my hair once in a while!"

"Why doesn't Lady Daniela fight Lady Paige," suggested Aragorn. He and the others were standing nearby, clearly wishing to stay out of this. It must have looked comical though because the others were trying to hide their smiles. We also must have been loud because the entire Fellowship was there, clearly enjoying the fight, especially Gandalf. Anyways, I guess he only spoke up because he was afraid it might turn from verbal to physical

"Good suggestion, Aragorn," said Boromir, his eyes never leaving mine. So he paired me up with Paige, but I still refused to fight. She was my friend too. So in the end I had to fight Boromir. After that, Boromir and I never really got along. We sparred for the next hour and a half, after that it was archery.

Apparently everyone remembered what an awful shot I was, because everyone (not Legolas) cowered behind Alejandro since his power was skin like armor. To some people it might have been unnecessary, but to me, it was needed. I was still an awful shoot, but this time I didn't nearly kill anyone.

And that was how our life was for the next week or so: training, lunch, more training and some spare time. On our last day in Rivendell there was feast and dance. The dance was after the feast and we all danced, with the exception of Paige. I would have joined her, but Frodo walked over to me and asked me, and I couldn't say no; he was my favorite of them all. Lucero danced with Pippen, Cynthia with Boromir, Shelby with Legolas and Alejandro with a she-elf.

We danced with our original partners for a few more minutes, then we switched. It was difficult to dance at first because I've never danced before, but I survived it. We switched with the people behind us, and lucky me, it was Boromir and Cynthia. Cynthia got my pleasant dance partner while I was stuck with Boromir, my friend/enemy. Let me tell you that it was the most awkward moment ever since I was trying not to step on him so that we won't get into a verbal fight that might get physical. After that we continued dancing, switching partners and having a great time. At least three hours after the feast, we went back to our rooms because we were about to have a long day tomorrow; we were leaving the last safe haven until Lothlorien and embarking on the most dangerous journey of our lives.


	7. We entertain the Fellowship

We woke up early in the morning, and when I say 'early in the morning', I mean at dawn. The girls were really tired and Alejandro looked like he was ready to fight, but I was a bit awake. I was yawning, but I was better than the others. The Fellowship were saying good bye, so we decided to say good bye too. The librarian was there, so I said good bye to him and thanked him for helping me look for books. The others said good bye to the friends they made in Rivendell, but afterwards we left.

We only traveled for three hours, but Cynthia and I were DYING. The others were listening to music on Alejandro's phone and Shelby's IPod. I really wish I brought a book. When I told Cynthia this, she said I may be in a completely different world, but I was still my book reading self. We were so bored we decided to have some fun with the Hobbits. Now, I know it must have seemed cruel, but they were really corny jokes.

"Hey, Pippin," I said.

"Yes, Lady Daniela," he replied as he slowed his pace to match ours.

"You don't have to be so formal," I said. "Just call us by our first names."

"Okay, Daniela," he said.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to nothing in particular.

"What's what?" said Merry as he too slowed his pace and fell into step with us.

"What's that under there?" I said.

"Under where?" they said in unison. Cynthia and I laughed quietly. I know it wasn't _that _funny, but we were so bored it seemed like the most hilarious thing in the world. And to add to the fun, they kept on saying it over and over again.

"Under where, Daniela?" asked Merry.

"Where are you pointing?" asked Pippin.

"I don't see anything," said Merry. "What about you, Pippin?"

"No, under where, Daniela?" asked Pippin.

At this point I was laughing aloud and nonstop. The other members of the Fellowship stopped and turned to us. I must have looked crazy because they all raised an eyebrow. You see, Cynthia had a normal laugh while I have a laugh that sounds like an old, manly, demonic witch mixed with a hyena. I couldn't stop laughing and my sides really hurt. Cynthia managed to calm herself down a bit, but I was kneeling on the ground trying to calm down.

"What's so funny?" asked Sam.

We knew we should have stopped, but we couldn't stop the joke now.

"What's that?" I managed to get out after a few tries.

"What's what?" Frodo asked.

"What's that under there?" Cynthia asked. Just like me, she pointed to nothing in particular.

"Under where?" asked Legolas as he looked in the same direction. That got us laughing again, but this time, I was on the ground and tears were running down my face.

"What's so funny?" asked Sam again.

We couldn't believe they couldn't figure it out.

"Think _very_ hard about what you said," said Cynthia.

They all thought about it for a moment and then they realized what they were saying. Legolas, Pippin, and Merry blushed a bit, but that only got us laughing again. I briefly stopped because I couldn't breathe.

"You two are improper girls," said Boromir, shaking his head.

"Well, we were bored and didn't have anything else to do," Cynthia said. She was briefly speaking for the two of us until I calmed down.

"She does have a point," said Merry. "It is very boring."

"Can you tell us other jokes from your world?" asked Pippin.

"Definitely," I said. I managed to calm myself and get off from the floor. My sides and back still hurt horribly though.

Gandalf shook his head and gave an exasperated sigh. He turned and started walking, the others following. The others stopped listening to music because everyone else stopped moving, but they started listening to music again when we started listening.

"Well, what about some brain teasers?" I suggested.

"What are those?" asked Pippin. Apparently Middle Earth didn't have brain teasers. At this point I don't even think they have corny jokes.

"A brain teaser is like a joke that makes you think," Cynthia said. "Like a riddle."

"Yeah like, are you smart?" I asked.

"I suppose so," he said. Merry clearly disagreed because he shook his head.

"Then spell it," finished Cynthia.

"S-M-A-R-T," spelled Pippin.

"Wrong," Cynthia and I said in unison.

"He did spell it right," said Merry. The look on his face screamed confusion.

"No, he didn't," Cynthia explained. "I said spell 'it'. He spelled 'smart'."

They thought about it for a moment and laughed at the teaser. They asked for more and we gave them more. We finally stopped as the sun was setting. I knew how much they had to travel on foot, but never in my life did I think about how much it hurt. When Gandalf announced that we were resting for the night, we all fell to our knees, threw our hands into the air and cried 'yes' to the sky. We settled around the fire that Sam lit and had our dinner. It was dried meat and fruit. I was very hungry and finished quickly. That's when the worst thing imaginable happened (well, for me it was).

Lucero noted how it felt like camping, and Alejandro suggested we should tell ghost stories. Now, if you had to know something about me, it would probably be that I get scared easily. I mean, I just listen to some scary music, and when there's a loud noise, I get scared. The Fellowship liked the idea and Alejandro started telling the story of the 'Llorona" or the weeper. It was an old Latino story about a woman who drowned her children so that she could marry some guy. The guy still rejected her and so she wanders waterways crying for her children. She is also an omen of death, when someone sees her, someone dies. I just hope they aren't scared to death when we leave Lothlorien by boat.

The rest of the night as filled with scary stories, even the story of Bloody Mary. My friends knew that was easy to scare, so Lucero snuck behind me and scared me. I screamed a banshee scream and frightened the hobbits. I'm pretty sure Pippin was close to peeing himself when I screamed.

Then came my turn. I decided to do Bloody Mary, but this was a version that I read that was completely different from the witch one. I retold it, but I also included as many adjectives to the gruesome scenes. It must have been really scary because the hobbits were sitting crazy close and trembling, while the others hid their expressions, but their eyes were wide. My friends looked at me with wide eyes. You see, I'm usually very quiet and can't even look at scary book without trembling with fear. So it must have been strange for me to tell such a gruesome tale.

When it was time to sleep, I'm pretty sure nobody really got any real sleep except Gandalf, Aragorn and Legolas. To add to it, Gimli snored like a bear. I mean, it was being next to a railway. At this point I wanted to know what we did to deserve this, I mean we were pretty mature and none of us ever got into any real trouble. I looked over at Paige, who was laying down approximately four feet away. She was awake and turned towards me when I started to 'psst, psst' her.

"If that dwarf doesn't stop snoring, I'll kill him," she whispered.

"You know, that's not how a lady should talk," said a voice. We both stood up straight and were preparing to scream, but it was only Legolas. It must have been his turn to watch.

"How can you not be annoyed by this?" I asked. "You have elf hearing for crying out loud!"

"I find it as annoying as you do," he said. "But we must all endure it. We will be traveling together for a long, long time."

"What did we do to deserve this?" said Paige. She voiced my thoughts, and Legolas just chuckled.

"Remember, the Valar sent you here for a reason," he said. "Perhaps you were meant to save us all."

At this I had to laugh. "I think we're here to help, not save."

They laughed with me and Legolas told us to try to sleep. Paige immediately told him that the only way we could really sleep was if she could kill Gimli. He continued to laugh and just waved us away. We went back to our places and surprisingly, we managed to sleep.


	8. We meet Bob, Paige's imaginary son

**So, Paige and Alejandro weren't very happy with their descriptions. They were upset about it so this is what I got wrong: Paige is light skinned and has curly hair. Alejandro has spiked back or slick back hair. They were also upset because it took me so long to fix the descriptions.**

When we woke up the next day, we were all naturally tired. The others complained that they couldn't sleep either because of Gimli (Paige and the others were looking at him and I swear I could see murder in their eyes. Hopefully they won't hurt and/or kill him). It was hard to wake us up, especially Alejandro. Now I'm sure he growled at us. In the end we all managed to wake up, or at least pretend to be awake. We had another filling meal of dried meat and fruit, and continued to walk. I told Cynthia that now my parents couldn't say I didn't do exercise.

The rest of the day was basically like yesterday; a lot of walking, the others listening to music and Cynthia and I entertaining the hobbits. It was like this for the next _four_ weeks. Let me tell you that it was _torture_. We got used to it after a while, but we weren't completely used to it. I remember Gandalf saying forty days of travel to the Gap of Rohan, so we were about ten days from where the Crebain from Isengard appeared.

Cynthia and I eventually ran out of puns, corny jokes and brain teasers, so they asked us about our world. I told them the history of America, with Cynthia adding some current events. The other members of the Fellowship slowed down a bit to listen to what we were saying. I went from colonial America to modern America. When Cynthia told the events from this past year, the Hobbits were horrified when they heard about some of the events that really shocked America. Everyone stopped and bowed their heads and stood like that for a few seconds. It was really touching, seeing them like this when they heard about it, but the moment didn't last past a few minutes. We had to keep moving.

After a few hours later, Pippin asked me about my glasses. At this point Paige was tired of listening to music and walked with us. I told him that they help me see better.

"You can't see without them?" he asked. "What about Paige?"

"I can see, but it's just blurry," I responded.

"It's the same for me," said Paige.

"Why can't you see clearly?" asked Legolas. He slowed his pace and was walking alongside us.

"We don't all have elf vision, you know," said Paige with a grin.

Before he could say anything, I replied to his question.

"It's in my genes, I think. It might also be that I wasted my vision on TV."

"What is TV?" asked Merry.

"Um, it's a box thing that lets you hear and see moving pictures," I said.

Their eyes went wide with wonder. I was looking at them, but for some reason, I looked up and saw a boy. He had dirty blonde hair and stormy blue eyes. He was dressed in military style pants and a green shirt. He was also wearing combat grey combat boots and a headset, like the ones singers use on stage. He was about four feet away from us. I screamed and all the Fellowship turned to look at what I was seeing. Nobody else saw him, except Paige, Cynthia and me (the others didn't hear me scream and weren't watching).

"Why did you scream?" asked Legolas.

"Can't you see that boy?" whispered Cynthia.

"What boy?" asked Merry.

"That boy," I said, pointing to him. Paige recognized him, and I could hardly believe it.

"That's Bob!" she said.

"Who's Bob?" asked Frodo.

"He's my adopted son!" she said. She then took off and went to him.

"Her _son_?" said Cynthia.

"Her imaginary son," I explained. I, ugh, met Bob earlier in the year and pretended that he really was there. I went over to her and heard part of their conversation.

"-you doing here?" asked Paige.

"My job," he said.

"Your job?" I asked when I arrived. He looked over at me and waved.

"Hi, sis," he said with a cheerful smile. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this; I asked Paige if I could be his sister. I didn't think when I asked for that that it would really come true. I guess now I'm stuck with an imaginary brother.

"Oh, um, hi Bob," I said. "So like I asked before, your job?"

"Oh, I guess I should explain," he said. "Come, let's go and we'll talk on the way."

We walked over to the others and everyone saw Bob, except the Fellowship. They were all looking at us like we were crazy.

"Who's the new guy?" asked Shelby. She and the others turned off their music.

"This is Bob," said Paige.

"What? Bob's real?" said Shelby. She knew about Bob, and basically didn't really like him.

"Look, enough with introductions," said Bob in a commanding voice. "Get them to keep moving without asking any questions. I'll explain on the way."

"Whoa, who do think you're talking to?" asked Alejandro. He was still grouchy from not being about to sleep in.

"Please," said Bob, softening his tone. "We have to keep moving. You're going to have to trust me."

"Um, Alejandro, who are you talking to?" asked Pippin. We forgot the Fellowship was there, and right now, they were looking at us with scared and worried expressions.

"With Bob," Lucero said.

"Bob," said Aragorn. "And where is Bob?"

"Can't you see him?" asked Cynthia. "He's right here, in front of us."

"There's nothing there," said Sam. They all looked confused, even Gandalf. Gandalf, of all people, was looking confused!

"It's okay," said Bob. "They can't see me. Look, let's just get moving."

"Nevermind," said Cynthia. "We should just keep moving, with no questions what so ever."

They gave us one last look and moved on. The Hobbits moved a bit faster and were near the front with Gandalf. I'm pretty sure they think we're going crazy.

"So you said you would explain," started Paige. "So explain."

Bob nodded and said in a business-like voice, "I'm an agent of the S.P.A.; The Story Protection Agency."


	9. Why we're in ME

**There's not a lot of action in this chapter. It actually explains how we got there and who Bob actually is. **

"You're part of an agency called spa?" said Lucero with a grin. We were now walking behind the Fellowship, who could possibly be thinking that we have gone insane. We tried to talk in low voices so that Fellowship wouldn't hear us, but of course Legolas and the Hobbits had to have keen hearing so they could hear every word we said.

"We prefer S.P.A," said Bob.

"So what's S.P.A?" I asked.

"A super-secret agency that specializes in protecting stories," he said.

"What does that mean?" asked Cynthia.

"It means," said Bob, "that when we detect that a story is being changed, the agency sends agents to the story to keep it to its original plot. You see, once in a while, the Darkness changes major and minor stories. Our job is to keep the story from changing."

"But won't the characters see you?" asked Paige.

"All agents are imaginary friends," explained Bob. "Just like on Earth, they can't see, feel, smell or hear us."

"If you protect the stories," said Alejandro. "How come we're here?"

"The Darkness must have brought you here," said Bob. "It must have thought that you might change the story beyond our skill to fix it."

"The Darkness?" I asked. It sounded like something from medieval times.

"It's a force," he explained. "Its goal is to destroy stories. We gain our knowledge and morals from stories, so get rid of stories you turn barbaric."

"Can you send us back?" asked Shelby. "If you send us back, the Darkness or whatever, can't mess this story up, right?"

"Actually," said Bob. "The only I can send you back is in a casket. You will have to go through the entire story to get out."

"You have to _kill_ us in order to go back?" asked Cynthia.

"Only if you want immediate leave," said Bob.

"Shoot," said Alejandro. "You're not killing me before I kill you."

"Don't worry," said Bob, throwing up his hands to show he means no harm. "I would never hurt an innocent person. And I'll stay with you guys until the end."

"Has this happened before?" asked Paige.

"It has," he said.

"Then if it's been done before, it can be done again," I said.

"Actually," said Bob with a nervous laugh. "They died in the story. It was hard to cover it up, but it was done."

"Well, that's encouraging," I said.

"You know," said Bob. "It was more the agent's fault than the kids. He was a rookie and didn't have a partner. He didn't take the safety precautions and died along with the kids."

"Where's your partner?" asked Shelby.

"I don't have one," said Bob. "I'm a veteran. I have lived longer than any other agent. Every mission that I've been on has been a complete success."

"How can you be a veteran?" asked Lucero. "You look about our age."

"An agent's age depends on his or hers mother/father's belief," he said. "An agent is born when a kid imagines him or her, hence the term imaginary friend even though it's supposed to be imaginary son or daughter. They either die in duty or their kid stops believing in them."

"So because Paige hasn't stopped believing in you," Cynthia said. "You have lived a long life."

"Exactly," said Bob. "And because I'm an amazing agent, if I do say so myself."

"Aw," said Paige. "My son is so awesome."

"Wait, where have you been all this time?" asked Cynthia.

"I was on another mission," said Bob. "They decided to wait for me because you might actually believe me. I mean, would you have believed me if none of you knew me?"

"Good point," I said.

"Wait, I have a question," said Shelby. "What will happen to the story? I mean, we're in the story, but we weren't _supposed_ to be in it. What will happen?"

"We'll do our best to cover it up," responded Bob. "It'll take some time, but it can be done."

"What happens if we die?" I asked. I had to know okay.

"Well," said Bob. "In your world, there was an airplane crash. Everyone survived, except six individuals. They were gravely injured and were transported to the hospital. That's where you guys are. If you survive here, you'll survive over there. Die here, you die there."

"We DIED!" we all screamed. The Fellowship turned towards us. They had worry and some fear written all over their faces. We waved at them and they slowly turned back around.

"You didn't die," said Bob as he rubbed his ear since we screamed in it. "You're just in a coma. Once we get out of here, you'll wake up, but you'll be in some pain."

"Perfect," said Alejandro.

"Hey," said Bob. "I won't let you guys die. I will be here for the rest of the story, helping you along the way. It'll all be alright."

"I hope you're right," said Lucero.


	10. Of crows and snakes

Bob was telling us about the agency and we found out that they were currently lacking in agents. They were losing more agents than they could afford. Bob was in the middle of telling us a story about his earlier adventures when he got a call from headquarters.

"Hello?" he asked. "Yes…yes…no…of course not. I know that. Yes, yes, really? Right, of course."

He hung up and turned to us. Turns out he wasn't supposed to tell us about the agency, but isn't in trouble because he didn't tell us this secret. There also was a new agent that he would have to train and take up as his partner once he went back.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally made it to the spot with the Crebain. We rested for a while and Boromir decided to train the Hobbits. We moved closer to Gandalf and overheard him and Gimli talking about the route.

"-we can pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome," Gimli said.

"No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice," replied Gandalf.

"Why not?" asked Alejandro. "I like the sound of 'a royal welcome'."

"You don't understand-," I started, but was interrupted by a yell; "For the Shire!"

We all turned in time to see Boromir get tackled by Pippin and Merry. When Aragorn tried to help him, he too fell to might of the Hobbits. We all laughed until Sam noticed the Crebain.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Nothing...it's just a wisp of a cloud," said Gimli. I motioned the others to get near one of the members of the Fellowship. Luckily they understood what I wanted and edged close to the member. Cynthia and Paige moved closer to Boromir, Alejandro to Aragorn, Lucero to Gimli (she still thought Dwarves were adorable) and Shelby and I went to Legolas. Bob was close to Gandalf and he didn't even notice him!

"It's moving fast...against the wind," Boromir said in a worried tone.

"Crebain from Dunland!" cried Legolas.

"Hide!" Aragorn said urgently. Boromir grabbed Cynthia and Paige by their arms and lead them to where he was going to hide. The others did the same, with Alejandro following Aragorn since he didn't want Aragorn to grab him. I mean, he held up his hands when Aragorn turned to him and said, "Whoa, bro. You ain't grabbing." Bob went with Gandalf to his hiding spot. Legolas pulled me and Shelby into some bushes and we hid.

Now, I know most fan girls would have loved it since they were hiding in a small spot with Legolas, but that was not the case here. Yes, it was a bit of a tight space because to our right was a large boulder. Yes, Legolas was between me and Shelby, but then bad things started to happen. I felt something sliding onto my right hand. No, it was most definitely _not _the Elf's hand. I turned and I saw a snake. The color of its scales brought back a song that I read while I was at the zoo.

'_Red meets black, friends of Jack. Red meets yellow, kill a fellow.'_ Sadly it wasn't red meets black. On my hand was a poisonous snake. A _poisonous _snake! Legolas must have felt me tense up because he turned to face me. I was about to scream, but he cupped a hand over my mouth. That was by far the best part out of this dilemma. Let me just say, his hand was incredibly soft.

Shelby turned to see what was happening and she too was about to scream, but Legolas cupped his other hand over her mouth. He removed his hand when he thought I wasn't going to scream and thankfully, the Crebain left by then. He picked up the snake and held it just inches from my face. It wasn't on purpose, but as soon he moved it farther from me, Shelby and I ran out of there like our lives depended on it.

The others were already out and were looking at us for an explanation.

"There was a snake on my hand," I said.

"Where is it?" asked Cynthia.

"I placed it far from us," said Legolas.

"What were does?" asked Alejandro. "They looked like mutant crows."

"Spies of Saruman," answered Gandalf. "The passage South is being watched."

He looked to Aragorn and then turned to us. He then turned towards the snow covered mountain.

"We must take the pass of Caradhras!" he claimed.

"What's that?" asked Shelby.

"That mountain peak behind us," I answered.

"Oh heck no!" cried Alejandro. "I'm not scaling a mountain and freezing my butt off!"

"We have no choice," I said. "It's the only way to keep from getting caught. Trust me, I don't want to go as much as you do, but it must be done."

"Daniela is right," said Aragorn. "We must get moving if we want to get to the mountain before nightfall."

We packed all our stuff and started towards the pass. Once we were on the pass, it made me regret ever complaining about how cold it was in North Carolina. It was so freaking cold! I mean, we were cloth in nothing but our regular clothes and a cloak. Bob didn't seem affected by the cold and I asked him why he wasn't cold.

"My clothes are made from a material that keeps me warm," was his reply. Not far ahead of us Frodo slipped and fell back towards the back to where we were. He got on his feet, but the Ring was missing. Boromir picked it up by the chain and held it in his face. I looked over at Aragorn and saw that he was warily approaching Boromir. Boromir was looking at the Ring as if he was transfixed by it.

"Boromir?" asked Aragorn.

"It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing...such a little thing," he said, his eyes never moving from the Ring.

"Boromir...give the ring to Frodo," Aragorn said quietly. We were all watching this and saw that his hand moved to his sword hilt.

"As you wish," said Boromir lightly. "I care not."

Boromir smiled down at Frodo and ruffled his hair. If that was his best try at making it seem like he didn't care, he did an awful job. Aragorn removed his hand from his sword hilt and continued to walk on with us.

"Would you really do it?" asked Cynthia quietly.

"Do what?" asked Aragorn.

"You know," she said. "Killed him if he hadn't given the Ring to Frodo."

"I'm afraid I would've been forced to," he responded. We all heard this and remained quiet until it started to snow. To lighten the mood, Paige grabbed some snow and balled it up into a snowball. She threw it to Merry, and hit him right between the shoulder blades. I guess she threw it really hard because he fell. We all looked at him with wide eyes and when the Fellowship turned towards us, they looked at her and Lucero since they were standing directly behind Merry. They pointed to each other and at the same time said, "She did it!"

Gandalf just shook his head and turned around. He just turned around without bothering with Merry! I mean, who does that? But I guess it was alright because Aragorn went to help him up.

"Why did you do that?" he asked us.

"That was a snowball," explained Paige. "You throw it at someone to show you want a snowball fight."

"What's that?" asked Pippin. He was helping his cousin dust himself off.

"You just make snowballs and throw them to someone," said Shelby.

"Is it safe?" asked Merry.

"Yes," said Lucero and with that, she threw a snowball at Pippin. It was the beginning of a snowball war. Alejandro, Bob, the Fellowship and I stayed out of it. There were two sides; the first side consisted of Cynthia, Paige and Merry while the other had Pippin, Lucero and Shelby. We didn't stop, so the war moved along with us. Aragorn, Boromir and I kept on getting hit by stray snowballs, and Alejandro threatened them if he got hit by one.

"Hit me with and it'll be the last thing you do," he said. I guess Merry and Pippin thought he was for real because they hid behind Paige. It helped to pass the time, but it eventually the slow fall of snow became a blizzard. And so began one of the worst times of my life, and possibly my friends too.


	11. Blizzards and mines

"How much longer?" screamed Alejandro over the wind.

"For what?" screamed Paige.

"Till we reach the end!" he screamed.

"I don't know," I screamed. We were all freezing and were struggling to walk through the snow. Legolas had no problem because he was an elf. Shelby took advantage of her powers and turned into a fox. She was able to walk above the snow with Legolas. The Hobbits were struggling the most, you know since the snow was above their heads. Hopefully we were nearing the part in which the avalanche occurred.

Legolas suddenly stopped, turned and said urgently, "There is a fell voice in the air!"

"It's Saruman!" cried Gandalf. Above us rocks and snow fell.

"Make a shield!" cried Boromir. I created one and thankfully none fell on us.

"He's trying to bring down the mountain!" cried Aragorn urgently. "Gandalf! We must turn back!"

"No!" he cried.

"If we don't turn back we'll all die!" cried Alejandro.

"They're right," cried Shelby. "We have to turn back! I don't want to die because of snow and rocks!"

Gandalf raised his staff and started chanting into the wind:

"Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho I ruith. Sleep Caradhras, be still, lie still, hold your wrath."

That seemed to make the problem worse. Saruman's voice got louder and a lightning bolt came down on to the mountain side above us. We all looked up and saw an avalanche come down on us. We all threw ourselves against the cliff side as the snow fell onto the narrow ledge. Legolas grabbed Gandalf and dragged him with us to the cliff side. Aragorn shielded Frodo and Sam as the snow fell onto them.

Once the avalanche stopped, Aragorn and Boromir began to dig us and the Hobbits up. It wasn't very difficult considering we were in the same spot. Bob got out too. Apparently he had some sort of heat ray and didn't even bother to tell us.

"You had a heat ray?" asked Lucero.

"Yes," was his response.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Alejandro. "We've been freezing our butts off while you had a _heat _ray?!"

"It would have looked suspicious if you guys weren't cold like the Fellowship," he said. I'm pretty sure he had a smirk on his face.

"We must get off the mountain!" cried Boromir. "Make for the gap of Rohan and take the West road to my city."

"I completely agree with him," said Alejandro.

"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard," countered Aragorn.

"We cannot pass over the mountain," said Gimli. "Let us go under it. Let us go through the mines of Moria."

Gandalf had a look of worry on his face.

"Let the ring bearer decide," he said.

We all looked over at Frodo. He didn't answer for a while

"Frodo?" said Gandalf. He looked up and met Gandalf's eye.

"We will go through the mines," said Frodo. If we could've, I bet we all would've thrown our arms into the air and cried yes. But we didn't because we could tell that this wasn't a good choice because Gandalf slowly and sadly nodded.

"So be it," was all he said.

The trek down the mountain was easier than up. The blizzard started to cease and we were all happy to be out of the cold.

"Remind me to never complain about how cold it is in North Carolina," I told Cynthia. She just laughed and shook her head.

We got to the lake shore at night. The footing was very dangerous because there were a lot of greasy stones. Everyone was excited about going into the Mines and finally being next to a fire, but I didn't have the heart to tell them it was not what we were expecting.

"The walls of Moria!" said Gimli in awe. Gandalf touched the smooth rock wall between two trees and slowly, faint lines appeared like slender veins of luminous silver running through the stone. The Fellowship was all calm and collected, but the Hobbits and we couldn't help but 'ooh' and 'ahh'.

"Itidin," explained Gandalf, "it mirrors only starlight and moonlight."

He turned and looked up to the sky. A large cloud was just moving away from the full moon. The lines grew broader and clearer, forming a glowing arch of interlacing ancient letters and symbols. I remembered seeing the door in the book, but in real life, it was far more beautiful.

"What does it say?" asked Shelby.

"It reads, 'The door of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter.'" Gandalf said.

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Merry.

"It's quite simple," answered Gandalf. "If you are a friend, speak the password and the doors will open."

He then raised his arms and chanted, "Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!"

We were all expecting the doors to open, but of course they didn't. I guess Paige thought that this needed some comical relief because she coughed when nothing happened. Gandalf continued to mumble spells in his efforts to open the door. While Sam began to pack pots and pans at his feet, he watched sadly as Aragorn unsaddled Bill the pony

"Mines are no place for a Pony," whispered Aragorn (we were close enough to listen in). "Even one as brave as Bill."

"Bye, Bill," said Lucero as she patted Bill.

"Go on, Bill, go on," said Aragorn. "Don't worry, Sam...He knows his way home."

Aragorn slapped Bill on the rump and Bill began to trot off.

"Goodbye, Bill," said Sam.

Pippin and Merry were tossing stones onto to lake not far from us. Alejandro grabbed one and tossed it. It skipped five times. I guess Pippin wanted to try too because he was in the same position as Alejandro was. He was about to the stone when Aragorn grabbed his hand.

"Do not disturb the water," he said ominously.

He continued to watch the water as the ripples grew in size. He exchanged a look with Boromir and motioned us to step back. Bob saw this exchange and placed his hand onto his belt of weapons and gadgets. We decided to go to where Frodo sat. Apparently Gandalf gave up and sat done next to Frodo. Cynthia turned to the door and said, "Has he tried 'Open sesame'?"

"Do you really think it might work?" asked Shelby.

"Why not?" asked Paige. "Open sesame!"

I guess she said it when Gandalf said the right password.

"It worked?" asked Alejandro.

"No," said Bob. "She just said it at the same time Gandalf uttered the right password."

The split open in the middle and we all stepped in cautiously. Shelby looked around and paled a little.

"Soon, master elf," said Gimli. "You will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves; roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone. This, my friend, is the home of my cousin, Balin...and they call this a Mine...A mine!"

"I like the sound of that," said Alejandro. "Red meat off the bone and fires! What are we waiting for?"

Gandalf staff suddenly started to glow and, well, most of us screamed. There were many dwarf skeletons. They all seemed to have died in battle because they had rusting armor on them. The armor and shields were covered with arrows and axes. Lucero was stepping on one and screamed when she looked down.

"This is no mine!" said Boromir grimly. "It's a tomb!"

Gimli began to cry 'no' while Legolas went over to a skeleton and took out an arrow.

"Goblins!" he said.

We all began to draw our weapons and backed up to the entrance.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan!" said Boromir. "We should never have come here."

"I agree with you," said Shelby.

Frodo was suddenly pulled to the ground. We all turned and saw a large black tentacle on his ankle. The thing that had a hold on Frodo began to drag him to the lake. He cried out and the men began to attack whatever was taking the little Hobbit. Aragorn managed to severe the tentacle and brought Frodo to safety. Boromir and Alejandro were hacking at the remaining tentacles when even more tentacles sprang out.

The creature began to emerge from the water and began to lash out at us. It grabbed Frodo again, but this time, he wasn't alone. The creature grabbed Cynthia and Lucero too! They were flung into the air, but Aragorn and Alejandro hacked some tentacles and the creature released them. Boromir caught Frodo while Paige, Bob, Shelby and I caught Lucero and Cynthia.

"Into the mines!" cried Gandalf.

"Legolas!" cried Boromir.

Legolas shot an arrow into the creature's head, which gave us a few vital seconds for us as we race out of the water with Frodo, Cynthia and Lucero. We hurriedly backed away from the Creature and retreated into the mine as the creature seized the large doors. It ripped away the door, which caused a rock slide. Within moments, we were trapped in the mines, or as Boromir put it, the tomb. Just what we needed after traveling through a blizzard.


	12. Going through the mines

**I do not own anything, except for the OCs. Sorry for any mistakes that I have made. **

A faint light rose from Gandalf's staff, throwing a really creepy glow across the old wizard's face. I jumped a bit when I looked at him with the light.

"We now have but one choice," said Gandalf ominously. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard...there are older and fouler things than the Orcs in the deep places of the world."

"Wait," said Shelby nervously. "Are we seriously trapped in the mines?"

"Yes," said Aragorn. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," said Shelby. "Something is seriously wrong. Is it just me or are the walls closing in?"

"Shelby," asked Bob "are you claustrophobic?"

"Yes," was all she said. We couldn't just stand aside while she was like that, so I tried to make things better.

"We're not in a completely confined place," I said. "It's actually really large. Like a large basement with a lot of rooms and stuff."

I guess it worked a bit because some color returned to her skin, or at least I think it did. After that we began to walk over a bridge, which I have to say, had some serious safety issues.

"Quietly, now," said Gandalf when a small rock fell from the bridge. "It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope that our presence will go unnoticed."

We continued up a steep stair, and through the halls of the mines. Then the path split into three passages that each disappeared into dark tunnels.

"I have no memory of this place," said Gandalf when he paused and frowned.

"The great Wizard is _lost_?" asked Shelby.

"I don't think so," said Paige. Several minutes later, we were still in the same spot, waiting for Gandalf to lead us through the right passage. We were waiting nervously while Gandalf sat, staring intently at the three tunnels in front of him. He appeared to be in some kind of trance.

Frodo turned at the sound of a faint noise down the tunnel behind us.

"What's wrong?" asked Cynthia.

"Nothing," said Frodo.

"Are we lost?" asked Pippin.

"No," answered Merry. "I don't think we are. Shhhh, Gandalf's thinking."

"Merry!" said Pippin.

"What?" asked Merry in an exasperated voice.

"I'm hungry," he said.

"When are you _not_ hungry?" asked Alejandro. Frodo suddenly moved towards Gandalf, but we didn't pay close attention to that.

"Hey Bob," said Lucero. "Do you have anything entertaining in your bag, or belt?"

"I have nothing except weapons and other emergency stuff," he said as he rummaged through his book bag.

"Great," said Alejandro.

"Who is this, _Bob_ you keep speaking of?" asked Legolas.

"Um, he's our friend," was all I could think of saying.

"Your _friend_?" asked Boromir. "And where is your _friend_?"

"Hold up," said Bob as he took something out of his bag. He handed it to me and I was able to see what it was. It was a sock puppet. "Say this is me. It should help."

"You've got joking," said Shelby.

"I'm not," he said. "Just pretend, okay. Think of it as a Muppet."

So this is what it has come to. I swallowed my dignity, and put it on my left hand. I dearly hope this wasn't a used sock.

"This…is Bob," I said holding out my hand.

They looked at me like I was crazy. I could feel my cheeks growing red by the second.

"So that is what you've been talking to all this time?" asked Gimli.

"Yes," said Cynthia.

"Can it talk?" asked Pippin.

I looked at Bob with pleading eyes. He couldn't possibly make me talk for it. He nodded his head and I nearly cried of embarrassment.

"Why yes Pippin," I said in a high pitched voice while moving the puppet's mouth. "I can talk. And I'm as real as you are. Aren't I Daniela?"

"Yes you are," I responded. Now, before you say anything, Bob made me say it. He kept telling me what to say. I just hope that he won't tell me other things that might make me sound crazy. Apparently whenever he spoke, I had to use the puppet so that they wouldn't get suspicious. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, Aragorn stood and walked over to me. He placed a hand on my forehead, like trying to see if I had a fever.

"Do you feel ill, child?" he asked.

I had no idea what to say, but luckily I was saved from answering that question. Gandalf stood and pointed to the right tunnel. We all got up and walked over to him.

"He's remembered!" said Merry. He sounded relieved. So did I since I was saved from answering a question that I had no answer to.

"No," answered Gandalf with a laugh. "But the air doesn't smell so foul down there. If in doubt, Meriadoc, always follow your nose!"

"That doesn't sound very reliable," said Cynthia.

"Doesn't matter," said Alejandro. "Let's just get out of here."

We walked into the passage way and arrived into a dark room.

"Let me risk a little more light," said Gandalf. He tapped his staff on the floor and for a brief moment the light blazed. Soon we were able to see the room we were in.

"Behold!" said Gandalf. "The great Dwarf cityof Dwarrowdelf! Most of us (obviously we did, as did the Hobbits but not the men, Gandalf, Legolas or Gimli) gasped at the briefsight of a vast roof, far aboveour heads, which was upheld by many mighty pillars made of us stretched a HUGE and empty hall, with black walls which were polished and smooth as glass.

"Well, there's an eye opener and no mistake!" said Sam.

Ahead of us were two great wooden doors. Gimli rushed ahead and entered the room.

"Gimli!" cried Gandalf. We all rushed after him and found him on his knees, sobbing in front of a great slab of stone.

"What's wrong?" asked Paige quietly.

"Wait," I said.

"'Here lies Balin, son of Fudin, Lord of Moria.'" Read Gandalf from the runes that were embedded in the tomb. "He is dead, then. It's as I had feared."

"Oh," said Shelby. We all stood near the tomb in silence. Gandalf saw a book nearby and picked it up. He handed Pippin his hat and opened the book. We all saw Legolas move closer to Aragorn and whispered something, but we couldn't hear what it was.

"'They have taken the Bridge and the second hall: we have barred the gates," read Gandalf from the book. "...but cannot hold them for long...the ground shakes...drums in the deep...we cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. Will no- one save us? They are coming.'"

None of us saw Pippin walking over to a skeleton and touched it. I jumped when it started to fall because the sound it made was loud. At least I wasn't the only one. Everyone turned towards him. If looks could kill, then Pippin would have died from the glares he got from Alejandro and Gandalf.

"Fool of a Took!" said Gandalf angrily as he took away his hat. "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"

"Are you serious?" asked Alejandro. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Then when he was done talking, we all stood still because the BOOM-BOOM of drums could be heard.

"Mr. Frodo," said Sam in a worried tone. Frodo took Sting out a bit and we saw what we hoped we wouldn't see; it was glowing blue.

"Why is his sword blue?" asked Lucero.

"There are goblins near," answered Frodo.

"Get back!" said Aragorn to the Hobbits. "Stay close to Gandalf. Children, prepare for battle."

Bob took what looked like a silver cylinder from his bag and held it like a sword while we took out our weapons. Aragorn and Boromir started to bard the doors. Boromir peered out and narrowly missed getting shot in the face.

"They have a cave troll," he said to Aragorn. Meanwhile Gimli jumped on top of tomb and said in a really low voice:

"Let them come. There is one Dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath!"

We stood there for what felt like an eternity and I looked at my friends. We were about to enter our first battle, and possibly our last.


	13. After the mines

After what felt like an eternity, the Orcs broke down the door. And I thought they were ugly in the movie! They were absolutely HIDEOUS! I mean, they could have turned Medusa into stone! The Trolls weren't any better. And don't even get me started on the smell! But I had no time to make a lot of judgment since I was nearly beheaded. We fought and I lost track of everyone. All I saw were short glimpses of my friends. Then I saw something that made me take a double take. Bob was wielding a lightsaber. A _lightsaber_ just like from Star Wars!

Then I heard Frodo scream Aragorn's name. I turned just in time to see a troll thrust a spear into Frodo. Merry and pippin went crazy after that and attacked the troll. Legolas then shot the troll and killed it. The Orcs were all killed so we were all able to go to Frodo.

"Oh no," whispered Lucero.

"He was so young," said Paige. Then to their utter surprise, he coughed and took a deep breath.

"He's alive!" said Sam.

"You're alive?!" asked Alejandro.

"I'm alright," said Frodo. "I'm not hurt."

"You should be dead," said Aragorn. "That spear would've skewered a wild boar!"

"How are you alive?" asked Shelby.

"I think there's more to this hobbit than meets the eye," said Gandalf. Frodo opened his shirt to reveal the mithril vest. The spear didn't pierce the vest.

"Mithril!" said Gimli in awe. "You are full of surprises, Master Baggins."

Then the sound of drums could be heard again. Gandalf turned towards us and said, "To the bridge of Khazad-dum!"

He led us into the Dwarrowdelf chamber and ran towards a distant door. Then Goblins started to climb down the pillars and soon we were surrounded. When we thought things couldn't get any worse, we heard a deafening roar. The Goblins started to scatter away in fear while we stood as we were.

"What is this new devilry?" asked Boromir.

Then there was a huge shadow that was surrounded by flame that fell across the hall. The ground shook as an unearthly sound rumbled.

"A Balrog," said Gandalf quietly.

"A what?" asked Shelby.

"A demon of the ancient world," he answered. "This foe is beyond any of you! Run! Quickly!"

Aragorn led us to the top of some stairs where Boromir nearly fell if not for Legolas. We went down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and were near the bottom when we came across a gap in the stairs. Legolas jumped and landed on the other side. Gandalf went next and was caught by Legolas. We all jumped, with the Hobbits obviously being toss by Boromir and Aragorn. Goblin started to fire arrows at us, so I made a force shield around everyone except Legolas since he insisted.

Then there remained Aragorn and Frodo. They were about to jump, but the stairs broke and made a bigger gap. It began to sway, but they used it to jump to the other side. We began to run again towards the bridge, and we all made it across, except Gandalf. He stayed in the middle of the bridge. He had his staff in one hand and his sword on the other.

"You cannot pass!" he yelled to the Balrog. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun."

"Gandalf!" we all screamed.

"Go back to the shadow!" yelled Gandalf. "You shall not pass!"

He then brought down the staff and the bridge broke beneath the Balrog. We all let out a sigh of relief, but as the Balrog fell, it used whip on Gandalf's foot. He was pulled off the bridge, and clung to the bridge.

"Gandalf!" cried Frodo.

"Fly, you fools," Gandalf said. Then he let go and fell into the abyss.

"No!" we all cried. That's when we noticed all the goblins rushing to us. We ran through the archway and soon we were out of the mines. Sam, Merry, and Pippin were on the ground sobbing while we were just in shock. They all knew that he wasn't really dead, but it still hurt.

"_He is coming back, right?" _asked Cynthia.

"_Yeah," _I answered._ "But it will be some time before he comes back. For now pretend that you're really sad, if we don't than we won't get suspicious."_

"Legolas, get them up!" said Aragorn

"Give them a moment for pity's sake!" said Boromir.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs!" answered Aragorn. "We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up. On your feet, Sam."

"Frodo? Frodo!" called Aragorn. Frodo turned and we all saw a tear coming down his cheek.

"That's enough to break your heart," whispered Paige to me. I had to nod to that. The way he looked could break your heart. We began to move after he came closer to the group. Soon we were nearing Lothlorien.

"I can't believe we made it this far," I whispered to Cynthia.

"I just hope we can make it through out of all this alive," said Shelby.

"It's really pretty here," said Lucero. She was right. The trees were tall and the light looked golden.

"Stay close," said Gimli, "young hobbits and children. They say a Sorceress lives in these woods. An elf-witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell. And are never seen again!"

"She is not a witch," I said. I like Galadriel so I couldn't just stand there while he insulted her.

"Well," continued Gimli. "Here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox!"

Then a band of armored elves appeared and surrounded us. I made a force shield since I panicked when they pointed the arrows at our heads.

"I don't think your eyes and ears are working," Lucero said to Gimli.

"Are they friends?" asked Paige.

"Yes," I answered.

"Friends don't threaten to kill you," said Alejandro.

"Sometimes they do," said Shelby.

"The dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark," said Haldir as he down on Gimli. He was walking towards us when he face slammed into the shield. Gimli burst out laughing while the others tried to keep from laughing. I apologized and he sent me a look that said that he would be watching me. Aragorn started talking to him in Elvish while Paige translated.

"He's saying," said Paige. "'Haldir of Lorien, we come here for your help. We need your protection. And one of the children needs medical attention.'"

"Are you guys hurt?" asked Cynthia.

"No," I said.

"I think he's talking about you," said Bob.

"Why me?" I said.

"I think it's about the whole puppet thing," said Shelby.

"He thinks I'm crazy?" I asked. We stopped talking since the others started to follow Haldir. So this is what happens when you use a sock puppet to protect a friend's identity: people start thinking you're crazy. That's just great.


	14. We meet Galadriel and Alex

We followed the elves for some time, but then we reached the part where we had to be blindfolded. Gimli was annoyed at this because they wanted to blindfold him only, but Aragorn said that we were all to be blindfolded. Alejandro made it pretty obvious that he didn't want to be blindfolded.

"You are not going to blindfold me," he said.

"It's the only way they shall let us cross," said Legolas. "I don't like this anymore than you do. I am one of their kinsmen! I shouldn't have to be blindfolded."

"Yeah, but that's different," Alejandro said. "How do I know they won't try something while I'm blindfolded?"

"They won't try anything," I said.

"You don't know that," he said.

"Just let them blindfold you!" we all said. He continued to argue with us for a while long, but in the end he reluctantly agreed to it. They were great guides and nobody stumbled. For a while everything was in order, until we were half way there. You see, Bob took the puppet away for a while to work on it. He said he was going to put a tiny radio in it so that he could talk through it. This way he could make himself be heard.

"Wait," said Alejandro. "Why isn't Bob blindfolded?"

"Who is Bob?" asked Haldir.

"He is their puppet friend," answered Pippin.

"And my son," added Paige.

"Their puppet friend and son?" said Haldir. I felt Bob slip the puppet onto my hand and told me to raise it up.

"Yeah," said Bob through the puppet. "I'm their puppet friend and Paige's son. Bob's the name, being awesome is the game."

I couldn't see it, but I'm pretty sure Haldir and the other elves were freaked out. After a while, Haldir removed the blindfolds. Cynthia asked why he removed them and he answered that the Lady of the Woods said we could walk without blindfolds. And so after an even longer while, we reached Caras Galadhon, I think that was what I was called. It was really beautiful and in the moonlight, it seemed to glow s bluish-silver. We went up the stairs to meet Galadriel and Celeborn.

"We have to go up those stairs?" asked Paige. "They're huge!"

"Please tell me those are escalators," said Shelby.

"Nope," I said. "They are stairs that we have to climb."

We all groaned and started to ascend. If I didn't hate stairs before, I sure hated them now. I stayed near the trunk because we were really high up and I didn't feel looking down. We finally arrived at the top and let me just say, Galadriel and Celeborn were even more beautiful in real life than in the movie. I don't know if it was because I was really exhausted or because it really was, but I'm pretty sure they were glowing.

"Fourteen there are," said Celeborn, "yet fifteen there were that set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him."

"He has fallen into shadow," said Galadriel softly. She kept on looking into our eyes, and it felt like she was looking into our very soul. It was very unnerving. "The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all...Yet hope remains while the company is true. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

"Well," said Lucero, "there's no pressure there."

We had to agree. I mean who says if you stray a bit from the quest that it will the demise of everything and everyone and then say that you'll sleep in peace? It just doesn't go together. After that meeting, Haldir showed us to the pavilion that we were going to be staying in. He also said that he had someone that we had to meet.

"Who is he talking about?" asked Cynthia.

"No idea," I said. "It doesn't mention something like this in the movie or books."

"You know," said Alejandro. "I am beginning to wander if these people know what a haircut is. I mean, it has gotten so hard to tell a female from a male."

"Don't say that aloud," said Shelby. "They might here you."

"I like their hair," said Lucero. "It's really pretty. I wander what they use to keep it like that."

Then Haldir arrived with a human boy. He had dark hair and gray eyes.

"This is Alex," said Haldir. "We found him several weeks ago, wandering in the woods. He said he was from a place called Earth. He was dressed in strange clothes, so I have been led to believe he comes from your world."

And with that he left us alone with Alex.

"Hi," said Shelby. She sounded a bit love struck. "I'm Shelby."

"Sup bro, I'm Alejandro.

"Hey, I'm Lucero."

"Hi, I'm Cynthia."

"Hi, I'm Daniela."

"Hello, I'm Paige."

"I'm Bob, best secret agent that ever lived.

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"Do you know where you are?" I asked.

"Lothlorien, Middle Earth," he answered. "In the world of 'Lord of the Rings'."

"You haven't told them the events, have you?" asked Cynthia.

"No, I'm not an idiot," he said. "I've seen the movies so I'm guessing they are leaving soon."

"Not so loud," said Bob. He turned off the radio so he could speak. "They may overhear you."

"Okay," he said. "What's with the puppet?"

"He's my cover," said Bob. "It's the only way the book characters can hear me."

"Um, okay," he said. We explained everything that had happened to us and he told us what happened to him. Apparently he was in a car when suddenly there was a loud noise. Bob said that he was in a car accident and in a coma just like us.

"I'm guessing you'll be joining the Fellowship," said Alejandro. Shelby's smile instantly got larger at the sound of that.

"It's pretty dangerous," he said.

"Don't you have a power?" asked Lucero.

"Not that I know of," he said.

"I guess that you'll have to stay near us if you want to live," said Paige.

"Cool," was all he said.

"What's that noise?" asked Alejandro. Then we heard the most beautiful singing that we ever heard.

"The elves are mourning over Gandalf," said Paige.

"What are they saying?" asked Lucero.

"I'd rather not," said Shelby. "It's pretty sad."

"We should sleep," suggested Cynthia. "I'm guessing we have a very tiring journey ahead of us."

"You don't know how right you are," I said.


	15. Kidnappings and death, sort of

**I realize that the whole 'Bob talking' thing is a bit confusing, so what is in bold and quotations is Bob talking through the puppet.**

I have no idea how much time passed, but I can tell you that I had to spend some time in the infirmary. Apparently Aragorn told them that I may be ill so I was forced to stay in the infirmary for at least one day. Let me tell you it wasn't a stroll in the park. I had to convince them that I was sane and not sick.

Well, while I was stuck in the infirmary, everyone else had a great time. Alejandro, surprisingly, befriended Haldir, Lucero learned how to braid hair like an elf, and Paige and Cynthia spent most of their time exploring the woods with a guide, so everyone had a jolly good time. Something else happened while I was in the infirmary, too. Shelby and Alex became 'friends'. They had a lot in common and spent most of their time together. They say they aren't dating, but everyone knows that's not true.

Anyways, after some time, we had to leave. We met at the river shore and said goodbye. Galadriel gave the Fellowship their gifts and let me tell you that when Gimli asked for some of her hair, we all nearly burst out laughing. Then came our turn. She gave Lucero a hair band of silver and Alejandro a silver belt. For Shelby and Alex, she gave them rings (which I'm pretty sure are promise rings, but they don't know what they are). For Cynthia and Paige, she gave them silver necklaces with leaves on them. For me, well, she gave me a leaf (I asked for it, you know, since they shined a pretty silver-blue in the moonlight).

**"Hold up,"** said Bob. **"What about me? Don't I get a gift?"**

"No," I said through clenched teeth. "You're a puppet. You don't get a gift."

**"Please,"** asked Bob. **"Can I get a gift?"**

"Stop asking before I throw you into the river," I threatened.

**"Joke's on you," **he said. **"I know how to swim."**

"What do you wish for?" Galadriel asked.

**"A hug,"** he said. You can imagine how I felt when Galadriel hugged _me_. At least he didn't ask for a kiss.

**"**_**I **_**asked for the hug, not her," **said Bob. I can't believe Galadriel actually hugged the puppet. And I'm the one they think is crazy. She is thousands of years older than us, is one of the wisest people in Middle Earth and she actually _hugged_ a puppet.

After that awkward moment, we finally set sail. Since there were a lot of us, there were four boats. Aragorn, Frodo, Sam and Cynthia were in the first one. Boromir, Pippin, Merry, and Paige were in the second one. Legolas, Gimli, Shelby and Alex (coincidence? I think not) were in the third one. Alejandro, Lucero and I (obviously Bob stowed away with us) were in the last one. I was worried because I didn't know whether they knew how to navigate a boat, but Bob knew how to. We went with the flow and since the flow was slow, she spent the time talking.

"Hey, Bob," said Lucero.

**"Yes?" **said Bob.

"In the mines, was that a lightsaber you were using?" she asked. Thank goodness she asked because I was worried I was the only one who saw that.

**"Yeah," **he said. **"It was a souvenir from one of my previous adventures. I managed to take it and now use it for protection."**

"Aww," said Lucero. "I want a lightsaber."

"So what's going to happen now?" asked Alejandro.

_"Nothing good," _I said. _"A certain somebody is going to die, two of the Hobbits are going to Mordor by themselves and the other two are going to be kidnapped by Orcs."_

"_Who's dying?" _asked Alejandro.

"_A certain Steward's Son," _I answered.

"_Who's going to Mordor and who's going to be kidnapped?" _asked Lucero.

"_Frodo and Sam are going to Mordor," _I whispered. _"And you can already guess who is getting kidnapped."_

"Oh no," said Lucero. She really liked the Hobbits, and Merry and Pippin were her favorites

"_Don't worry," _I said. _"They will survive."_

"That's good," said Lucero.

"What is that language you speak?" asked Pippin. They rowed a bit close to us so that they were able to hear a bit of what we were saying.

"It's one of the many languages in our world," said Paige.

"What's it called?" asked Merry.

"Spanish," said Alejandro.

"Is it spoken by everyone in your world?" asked Boromir

"Not everyone," I said. "Many people speak it, but not everyone."

"You said it was one of the many languages of you world," said Merry. "How many are there?"

Hold up," said Alejandro. "Let me check."

And with that he took out his phone. He had a charger that could charge it without electricity, so that's why I hadn't died yet.

"What is that?" asked Pippin.

"It's a phone," said Alejandro. "In our world most people have these. They allow us to communicate with anyone else who has them over a distance. Like, if Elrond had one I could call him from here. They also allow us to play games, take pictures and other stuff."

"How can something so small and thin do all that?" asked Boromir.

"I don't know," said Alejandro. "Oh, there are roughly 6500 spoken languages in our world."

"How large is your world?" asked Merry.

"Huge," said Paige.

"There are about 195 countries in our world," said Alejandro as he glanced up from his phone. "How many countries are there in Middle Earth?"

"Not that many," said Boromir in awe. We continued to talk about our world until Aragorn said it was time we docked onto the main land. The Hobbits happened to remember our story about the "Weeper" because they were scared of sleeping near the river. We had to tell them that the story was make-believe and even if it was real she was in our world, not here. So we spent the night on land and then we set out again. It went on that way for another day or so until we reached the Argonath.

"What are those?" asked Alejandro.

"The Argonath," said Aragorn. He was close enough to hear the question. "Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old...my kin."

"They almost look like the Statue of Liberty," said Paige. "Except there are two of them and they are males."

We got off on western shore and rested against some boulders with Merry, Pippin and Gimli. Legolas was scanning the woods and Boromir was setting his shield against a tree.

"We cross the lake at nightfall,' said Aragorn. "Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh, yes," said Gimli sarcastically. "Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. And after that gets even better...a festering, stinking marsh."

"That is our Road," said Aragorn coolly. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

"Recover my…" said Gimli said. "Ah, pay no heed to that young Hobbits and children."

Aragorn walked over to Legolas and they started to speak quietly. Then Merry noticed Frodo was gone. Everyone turned towards him and all began to panic, sort of. Aragorn went off into the woods while the others set of in different directions. Lucero, Shelby and Cynthia went with Merry and Pippin while the others and I went with Gimli and Legolas. Sam and Aragorn went by themselves with Bob going with Aragorn in secret. After a while we were attacked by Orcs when we found Aragorn. Then we heard Boromir's horn and my heart sunk. Lucero, Shelby and Cynthia were with Merry and Pippin!

"Where are Shelby, Lucero and Cynthia?" asked Alex.

"**They're with Merry and Pippin,"** said Bob.

"Yes, is there a problem?" asked Legolas.

"If they don't get kidnapped, they-we have to go, now!" said Alejandro. We ran to where we heard the horn, and we saw Lurtz about to kill Boromir, but he only had one arrow sticking out of his shoulder. H wasn't going to die! Aragorn managed to kill Lurtz before he fired the arrow.

"They took the little ones and the children," Boromir said as Aragorn removed the arrow. Boromir let out a small gasp of pain as it was removed.

"Where is Frodo?" he asked.

"I let him go," said Aragorn.

"Then you did what I could not," said Boromir. "I tried to take the ring from him."

"The ring is beyond our reach now," said Aragorn.

"Forgive me, I did not see-" he said. "I have failed you all."

"No, Boromir," said Aragorn. "You fought bravely. You have kept your honor."

"Hate to break this, brotherly moment," said Alejandro. "But we need to find my girlfriend and the others!"

"Your girlfriend?" said Legolas.

"Lucero and Alejandro are, um, courting," I explained. "But he is right; we need to rescue them, like now."

"**This is bad, really bad," **said Bob.

"What's wrong?" asked Gimli.

"**Boromir is alive," **said Bob. That's when it hit me. Boromir was ALIVE!

"Yes, Lucero saved my life," said Boromir. "She pushed me out of the way and saved me."

"You were supposed to die," I said.

"What?" he asked.

"**We changed the story!"** said Bob. **"The Darkness has won! There's no way we can cover this up!"**

"What is he-it talking about?" asked Aragorn. "And who is Bob really?"

"In our world this quest is nothing but a story," I said. "Bob is actually a real person that helps keep the story from changing."

"We were sent here to change by an evil force," said Alex. "Boromir is supposed to die here. We changed the story, for better or worse, we don't know, but we have to save our friends."

"**He's right," **said Bob. **"We have taken up too much time talking. We can talk about it later, but we have to go, now."**

We all ran to the shore to get the supplies we needed, but Legolas put a boat onto the water.

"If we are quick," he said. "We will catch Frodo and Sam before nightfall."

Aragorn looked towards the other shore and we were able to see Frodo and Sam's boat. We were also able to see their small figures as they went into the forest. When Aragorn didn't respond, Legolas turned and said, "You mean not to follow them..."

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," was all he said.

"Then it has all been in vain," said Gimli. "The fellowship has failed."

"Not if we hold true to each other," said Aragorn. "We will not abandon the Hobbits and children to torment and death, not while we have strength left."

"Then let's get going," said Alex. "They are getting father and farther away as speak."

Right you are," said Aragorn. "Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light. Let's hunt some Orc."

"Yes! Ha!" said Gimli. And with that started the worst three days of my life.


	16. Traveling

The Uruk-hai were marching, carrying us on their backs. This was one of the most awful experiences of my life. The Uruk-hai smelled horrible and it stunk worst since they were on their backs. After we followed Merry and Pippin (not the wisest choice) the Uruk-hai attacked us. Boromir tried to defend us, but was shot in the shoulder. Lucero saved his life by pushing him out of the when he was about to be shot a second time. After that the Uruk-hai grabbed us and took us and, well, we ended up here.

"Merry! Merry!" I heard Pippin whisper to his cousin. Then the Uruks stopped and I feared they would do something to Pippin.

"What is it?" asked an Orc. "What do you smell?"  
"Man-flesh," another said.

"What does that mean?" asked Cynthia. "Aren't they just smelling us?"  
"It means Aragorn!" whispered Pippin to Cynthia.

"If they have good smelling" said Lucero, "then how come they can't smell each other?"  
"They've picked up our trail!" said the first Uruk. "Let's go!"

The Uruk-hai continued, quickening their pace, and I saw Pippin tear his elven brooch off his cloak with his teeth and drop it onto the ground. Hopefully if the others got this far, they'd take it as a sign that we are still alive.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How much farther are they from us?" asked Paige between breaths. We have been running for three days, I think, and we were about to die from exhaustion.

"I don't know," I said. "I think a few more miles away from us."

"Why does Aragorn get to rest?" asked Alejandro. He was a bit cranky since we only got a few hours of sleep overall and have been running like crazy. Aragorn, on the other hand, looked like he did this for a living. I guess he did since he was a Ranger. Anyways, he rested his head on a rock, as if he were listening to something through it.

"He's not resting," said Boromir, "he's listening."

"These people are insane," said Alex.

"Their pace has quickened," Aragorn said suddenly. "They must have caught our scent. Hurry!"

He started run and the others followed him. We were slower than the men and Legolas, but we were faster than Gimli. I don't know where they get the energy to run like that.

"Come on Gimli!" said Legolas.

"Three day's and night's pursuit," said Gimli. "No food, no rest- and no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell."

"But we have a Ranger with us," I said.

After some time, we reached a spot where there was a sort of rock cliff to our left. Aragorn bent down to pick up an elven brooch.

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall," said Aragorn.

Legolas stopped and turned to Aragorn.  
"They may yet be alive," he said.

"I hope they are alive," said Alejandro. "I don't want to be running after dead people."

"**How could you say that?"** asked Bob.

"We could always avenge them," said Boromir

"Less than a day ahead of us, come!" said Aragorn. Gimli then stumbled and rolled to the ground.

"Come Gimli!" shouted Legolas to Gimli. "We are gaining on them."

"**Are you sure about that?" **asked Bob.

"I'm wasted on cross-country," shouted Gimli. "We dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances."

"Then once we get close," said Paige. "You can prove how dangerous dwarves are in short distances."

We then arrived at a hill and paused. We were gazing across the plains that looked like they were perfect for picnics.

"Rohan," said Aragorn. "Home of the horse-lords. There's something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets it's will against us. Legolas! What do your elf-eyes see?"

Legolas then scanned the landscape before him. I couldn't help but smile when Aragorn said that. I reminded me of a funny video remix of what Legolas would say.

"The Uruks turn northeast," he said. "They are taking the hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman," said Aragorn. We continued to run and eventually, I was nearing Gimli in the back. I wasn't the fastest person and I usually didn't run, so I'm pretty sure that I was getting nearer to getting a heart attack.

"Keep breathing," said Gimli. "That's the key! Breathe!"  
"They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them," said Legolas.

"No," said Paige. "They run like they're in the Olympics."

"I'm pretty sure they would win gold if they ran in the Olympics," said Alex.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a while, the Uruk-hai and some Orcs stopped near a forest at nightfall. They were all exhausted, and so were we. I wondered if they were finally going to kill us. It didn't seem so farfetched since they were completely cruel creatures. Earlier they forced Merry to drink this brown liquid when he started to sleep. It immediately woke him up, and I felt sorry for them.

From what Daniela and the Hobbits told me, they were actually peaceful creatures and didn't know warfare. They were totally out of place here, a bit just like us. I could only imagine what was happening to Frodo and Sam. From what I remember from the story, they were going through a barren waste land.

"We ain't goin' no further till we've had a breather," said an Orc. They spoke like people in our world! Go figure.

"Get the fire going!" said an Uruk. As some of the Uruk-hai were resting and cutting the Trees, I crawled with Pippin to Cynthia, Lucero and Merry.

"Merry! Merry!" said Pippin. Merry had his eyes closed and I was worried he was dead. He opened his eyes and I let out a sigh.

"I think," said Merry. "We might have made a mistake, leaving the Shire, Pippin."

"I think we made a mistake, too," I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Lucero.

"We made a mistake in convincing our parents on letting us go to Mexico by plane," I replied. We all laughed quietly, not wanting the Uruks to hear us. Then, as the Orcs chopped down the trees, there were low groans and rumbles coming from the forest.

"What's making that noise?" asked Pippin.

"I think it's the trees being uprooted," I said.

"You are almost right, Shelby," said Merry. "It's the trees that are making that noise."

"What?" said Pippin. It sounded like something Legolas would say.

"You remember the Old Forest?" said Merry. "On the borders of Buckland? Folks used to say that there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall, and come alive."

"Alive?" asked Pippin. Now it really sounded like something Legolas would say.

"Trees that could whisper," continued Merry. "Talk to each other, even move."

Then an Orc started to complain. "I'm starving. We ain't 'ad nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!"

"Yeah!" another said. "Why can't we have some meat?"

Then the first Orc rested his eyes on us.

"What about them?" he asked. "They're fresh!"

"They are not for eating!" said the Uruk-hai leader.

"What about their legs?" said an Orc. "They don't need those. Ooh! They look tasty!"

"Actually we do," said Cynthia.

The leader shoved the Orcs and said, "Get back!"

"Just a mouthful!" said an Orc. In the dim, very dim, light, I could've sworn I saw him lick his lips.

The Uruk-hai Leader jumped on the Orc and cut of his head. It landed on the Hobbit's shoulders, but rolled some distance from where we were. Everyone looked a bit green, but not me since I watched 'The Walking Dead'.

"Looks like meat's back on the menu boys!" he said. Then everyone started to eat the dead Orc. They took their eyes on us and we began to crawl away.

"Somehow, I knew they were cannibals," I whispered to Lucero. She and Cynthia were looking a bit green at the sight.

"Pippin, let's go!" whispered Merry. We tried to crawl away, but Pippin was caught by an Orc.

"Go on, call for help," he said. "Squeal! No one's gonna save you now!"

Suddenly, a spear the Orc's back. Mysterious riders burst from nowhere and ambushed the Orcs, killing them.

"Pippin!" Merry cried. We began to crawl towards the forest. For some reason Pippin turned and was about to be crushed by a horse.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was dawn and we were running for an hour now. Legolas turned and looked to the dawn. It looked a bit red.

"A Red sun rises," he said. "Blood has been spilled this night."

"Oh no," said Alex. "Let's hope it isn't them."

Suddenly we heard hoof beats. We quickly hid behind a rock, surprised they didn't notice nine people hiding behind a rock. Aragorn then came out and called out to the Riders.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?"

"What happened to 'don't speak to strangers'?" said Paige. The Riders began to turn to us when the leader signaled them to do so. They encircled us and pointed their spears at us. Using one finger, Alejandro moved one so that it wasn't in his face.

"What business does an elf, men, children and a dwarf have in the Riddermark?" asked the leader. "Speak quickly!"

"Do Alejandro and I fall under men or children?" whispered Alex.

"Is that important?" asked Paige.

"To me it is," said Alejandro.

"Give me your name, horse master, and I shall give you mine," said Gimli.

The leader got off and walked over to Gimli. Aragorn placed his hand on Gimli's shoulder as if to keep him from fighting.

"**Nice helmet," **said Bob. **"Where did you get it from?"**

"Bob!" I said. It was like he was trying to get me killed.

""I would cut off your heads, Dwarf and child," he said. "If they stood but a little higher from the ground."

Legolas quickly drew an arrow and pointed it at the leader.

"You would die before your stroke fell," he said. Aragorn placed an arrow on Legolas bow and lowered it.

"I'm Aragorn, son of Arathorn," said Aragorn. "This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Boromir, of Minas Tirith and Legolas, from the Woodland realm. These are Alex, Alejandro, Paige, Daniela and Bob, the puppet. We are friends of Rohan and of Théoden, your king."

"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," He said as he took off his helmet. "Not even his own kin."

The spears were withdrawn as he continued.

"You are his nephew, Eomer," said Boromir. Eomer only nodded and continued.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over this land. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets"

As he said this, he looked at all of us with a meaningful look.

"Do we look like old men to you?" asked Alejandro. Aragorn placed a hand on his shoulder, probably for the best.

"We are no spies," said Aragorn. "We track a band of Uruk-hai westward across the plains. They have taken five of our friends captive."

"The Uruks are destroyed," Eomer said. "We slaughtered them during the night."

"But there were two hobbits and three children," said Gimli hopefully. "Did you see two hobbits and three children with them?"

"They will be small," said Aragorn. "Only children to your eyes. The three children were girls and a bit taller than the Hobbits."

"We left none alive," said Eomer. "We piled the carcasses and burned them."

"They are dead?" said Gimli. Luckily, we knew this wasn't true and we were prepared, sort of. Paige took a deep breath and dramatically put her hand to her mouth.

"You would kill children?" she said. "How dare you? Have you no shame? Killing children! Shame on you. Shame!"

"You killed my girlfriend!" said Alejandro. I told them that we had to pretend to be saddened and angered at this, but not dramatic.

"I am sorry," said Eomer. Legolas put his hand on Gimli's shoulder, and while we tried our best to look devastated. Eomer then whistled and three horses came forward.

"Hasufel! Sairaid! Arod! Naisad!" called Eomer. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than the former masters. Farewell. Look for your friends, but do not trust the hope. It has forsaken these lands. We ride north."

They left and we walked over to the horses.

"Nice guy," said Paige.

"He has been banished," said Boromir. "Can you blame him?"

"We have no time for talk," said Aragorn. "We must get moving. Paige, you ride with me. Daniela, you ride with Boromir. Alejandro and Alex, you both ride Naisad."

Bob took out what seemed to be winged shoes. Later on he told us there are a bunch of them in headquarters so it was pretty normal for an agent to have them. He hovered a few feet above the ground as we got on the horses and rode towards a column of smoke.


	17. Meetings

**I apologize if what Legolas said in the story is wrong from what he said in the movie. I don't know any Elvish (although I wished I did), and the website I got the movie script from said that it's what he said.**

"Dead Orc smells worse than live Orc," said Alejandro.

"It's actually a combination of Orc and Uruk-hai," I said. We arrived at the site of the burning sometime after the Riders left. It smelled worse than it looked, and I nearly gagged at the sight the severed Uruk-hai head impaled on a stick. Paige asked why they did this, and Boromir answered her. It turned out that it was a warning for any wandering Orcs or other foul things. Gimli was, at the moment, looking through the pile since I could barely stop gagging when I saw it and the others just didn't want to do it.

"It's one of their wee belts," said Gimli when he brought out a charred belt. Legolas bowed his head (Boromir did too, but he didn't say anything) and started saying something in Elvish. Paige said that he was saying, 'May they find peace in death'. We also bowed our heads while Aragorn kicked an Uruk-hai helmet and fell to his knees.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I remembered that in this scene he broke some of his toes.

"We failed them" said Gimli plainly. Aragorn didn't seem to have heard him, or me, but he did look to the side. He saw something in the dirt that I couldn't see.

"A Hobbit lay here, and the other, and three children," he said. "They crawled."

He started to following the tracks, me and the others not far behind him.

"Their hands were bound," he said. Then he found some broken rope. "Their bonds were cut. They ran over here and were followed. Tracks lead away from the battle, into...Fangorn Forest."

In front of us was a forest that resembled the forest from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was dark and I could barely see into it.

"Fangorn! What madness drove them in there?" asked Gimli.

"I'm guessing the same madness that's going to drive _us_ in there," said Alejandro.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pippin was nearly trampled if he didn't roll away. After that near death experience, we all began to crawl away from the scene, hopefully nobody would notice us. Pippin found a broken blade and started to rub his bonds against it. He motioned us over to it and soon we were all free. Once we were free we began to run as fast as we could without being trampled over. Then an Orc, I think the same one that nearly killed Pippin, grabbed him by the belt, but he undid it. We ran into the forest and when I turned to see how far we came, I saw the same Orc following us. That was enough to get me running like crazy. After some time, we collapsed and tried to regain our breath.

"Did we lose him? I think we lost him," said Pippin. Suddenly the Orc broke through the branches.

"I'm gonna rip off your filthy little heads! Come here!" he cried.

"Trees! Climb a tree!" cried Merry. We started to climb a tree, despite the fact that I barely could reach the top. Merry was near me so I saw him look around and let out a sigh in relief.

"He's gone," he said, but then he was pulled by the Orc to the ground. The Orc grabbed my ankle too, but I kicked him. I lost my hold on the tree and fell right next to Merry. He leaned over us and Merry tried to kick him off, but it just angered him. The others cried out, but Pippin was the loudest. I saw that he was about to fall, but then the weirdest thing happened. The tree caught him!

"I'm gonna put a maggot-hole in your belly," said the Orc as he raised his knife. I turned and looked at the Orc. I couldn't believe that the last thing I was gonna see would be one of the most hideous thing in the world. But, before we were harmed the tree stomped and crushed the Orc with one step!

"Run!" cried Pippin. The others screamed the same, and I saw that they were holding on for dear life. We tried to run away, but were scooped up by the tree.

"Little Orcs!" said the tree in a creaking voice.

"Well, that's nice," said Cynthia.

"I can't believe it," I said. "We were just insulted by a tree."

"It's talking Merry," said Pippin to his cousin. "The tree is talking."

"Tree! I am no tree! I am an Ent," said the tree, Ent I mean.

"You're a bit too big to be an ant," said Lucero.

"He said Ent, not ant," I corrected.

"Tree herder!" said Merry in awe. "A Shepherd of the forest!"

"Don't talk to it Merry," said Pippin. "Don't encourage it."

"A bit too late for that," I said.

"Treebeard some call me," said the Ent.

"And whose side are you on?" asked Pippin.

"Please say our side," said Cynthia.

"Side?" said Treebeard. "I am on nobody's side because nobody is on my side, little Orc. Nobody cares for the woods anymore."

"We are not Orcs," said merry. "We are Hobbits!"

"And we're girls," added Lucero. "Human girls."

"Hobbits?" he said. "Never heard of a Hobbit before. Sounds like Orc mischief to me."

His hold on us grew stronger as he said that last part. Merry, Pippin and I grunted because it was getting a bit harder to breathe. The others were well off because they were being held by an oversized mutant tree.

"They come with fire, they come with axes. Biting, breaking, hacking, burning.  
Destroyers and usurpers. Curse them!" he said as he kept tightening his hold.

"No!" cried Merry. "You don't understand. We are Hobbits, Halflings, Shire folk!"

"And girls!" said Lucero.

"We wouldn't hurt your forest," said Cynthia.

"Maybe you are, and maybe you aren't," he said. "Maybe you wouldn't, maybe you would. The White Wizard will know."

"White Wizard?" asked Pippin. As always, he was one step behind the rest of us.

"Saruman!" said Merry. Treebeard dropped us in and then grabbed Lucero and Cynthia and dumped them near us. We looked up and saw the White Wizard in front of us (which was hard because he was very bright). I couldn't help but let out a little curse at our fortunate.

"Damn."

**Sorry that it's a short chapter.**


	18. The truth

**I'm sorry if the info about the Ents is inaccurate, it has been some time since I've read Two Towers. **

It was creepier being in the forest than standing outside it. The air was very thick and it was really dark. Gimli found something on some leaves and decided to taste it.

"Orc blood!" he said as he spit it out.

"I can't believe you just tasted that," said Alex. "I mean, how did you know it wasn't something else?"

"How does Orc blood taste?" asked Paige.

"Foul," was all he said.

"These are strange tracks," said Aragorn as he looked to the ground.

"The air is so close here," said Gimli.  
"This forest is old," said Legolas. "Very old. Full of memory and anger."

"Trees can get angry?" asked Alejandro.

"**Trust me," **said Bob.** "You do not want to anger a tree. Who knew they can use their branches to whoop you?" **

Then there came what I think were bass voices from the trees. Gimli raised his axe and started to look around.

"The trees are speaking to each other," said Legolas.  
"Gimli!" said Aragorn. Gimli turned around look at him with a confused expression.

"Lower your axe," explained Boromir. Gimli let out a little "oh!" telling us that he understood. Legolas called over to Aragorn, and while they spoke in Elvish, Paige translated.

"Legolas is saying that something is out there," said Paige.

"It's a forest," said Alex. "Of course something is out there."

"Hold on," said Paige. "Aragorn just asked him what he sees."

"What does he see?" asked Alex.

"The White Wizard approaches," said Legolas quietly, both loud enough for us to listen.

"Do not let him speak," said Aragorn, "he will put a spell on us. We must be quick."

We all turned around, with Legolas and Alex (who learned from the Lothlorien Elves) had their bows ready, while we had our swords out and Gimli his axe. We were instantly blinded by a bright light emanating from the White Wizard. Legolas and let let go of their arrows, only to have them deflected. We dropped our weapons because they started to burn.

"You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits and three young girls," said the White Wizard.

"Where are they?" asked Aragorn.

"They passed this way," he said. "The day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?"

"No," said Alejandro and Boromir together.

"Well, unless that person is on our side," I said.

"Who are you?" asked Aragorn. "Show yourself!"

The light dimmed and we saw Gandalf. Legolas and Gimli both bowed, but we continued to look on.

"It cannot be!" said Aragorn. "You fell!"

"Cannot be?" said Paige. "It's impossible! You died! We all saw you die!"

"Through fire and water," said Gandalf, "from the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought him, the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside. Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt light in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done."

"Gandalf!" said Aragorn.

"Gandalf?" said Gandalf, as if he forgot his name. "Oh yes. That's what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name."

"Gandalf!" Gimli said this time.

"I am Gandalf the White," said Gandalf. "And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide. One stage of your journey is over, another begins. War has come to Rohan. We must ride to Edoras with all speed."

Once we were outside the forest, to which most of us were happy about. Gandalf let out a piercing whistle. Then we heard a neigh and a white horse appeared.

"That is one of the Mearas," said Legolas. "Unless my eyes are cheated by some spell."

"What are Mearas?" asked Paige.

"The Mearas were one of the fastest breed of horses of Middle-earth," said Gandalf as it stopped in front of him. "Their mortality is equal to Men and their intelligence and strength are extraordinary. They were descended from Felaróf, who was tamed by the first King of Rohan, Eorl. Ever since, they have been the mounts of the King and Princes of Rohan alone. Shadowfax is the lord of all horses and has been my friend through many dangers."

We all mounted our original horses and rode towards Edoras.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We were currently riding on Treebeard, it was a bit uncomfortable, but the moss on him made a good seat.

"My home," said Treebeard when we arrived at his home. "I sleep in the forest, near the roots of the mountains. I told Gandalf I would keep you safe and safe is where I'll keep you."

It was still shocking. I still couldn't believe he was alive, I mean, we all saw him die. Once we realized who he was though, the Hobbits and I were the only ones in shock. Cynthia and Lucero ran to him and hugged him, while we hung back and asked him how he survived. Lucero was a bit upset because she liked his grey beard better than his new white one.

He said he had other business to attend too and left us with Treebeard. He had been walking for some time, and in that time he had further explained what an Ent was and other stuff.

"The trees have grown wild and dangerous," he continued. "Anger festes in their hearts. They will harm you if they can. There are too few of us now. Too few of us are left to manage them."

"Why aren't there a lot of you?" asked Merry.

"The Entwives have gone," said Treebeard. "It has been a long time since there has been a young Ent."

"Where are they?" asked Lucero.

"We do not know," he answered. "They started to move away and Entwives disappeared. We have looked for them, but we have never found them."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

"Thank you, young one," he said. After that he talked about the happenings in the forest. It was interesting, but I started to nod off and eventually, fell asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld," said Gandalf as we were nearing Rohan's capital. "There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Théoden is now very strong."

"Can you break it?" asked Paige.

"We shall see."

We finally arrived at the gates, and saw a flag with a horse on it fall near it. As we entered the city, we noticed that just about everyone was dressed in black.

"**This place is as cheerless as a graveyard," **said Bob.

"Nay," said Gimli. "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard."

"Can you blame them?" I asked. "Their King is being controlled by the enemy."

We finally made it to the top of some stairs and were about to enter the castle when some guards came towards us.

"I cannot allow you before Théoden kind so armed, Gandalf Greyhame," said the leader. "By order of Grima Wormtongue."

"What type of name is that?" asked Paige. She looked like she was about to burst out laughing, and the others weren't far behind her. The leader just ignored that (but I swore I saw his lips twitch upwards a bit) and Gandalf nodded his head. With that, we gave up our weapons (some more reluctantly than others) and Hama, the leader, asked for Gandalf's staff.

"Eh? Oh, no, you would not part an old man from his walking stick?" said Gandalf. Hama just nodded at that and Legolas gave him his arm. He took it and we walked in. It was beautiful in there, a bit strange since the rest of the city looked like an old village. The straw roof (how it survived through rain I have no idea) looked a bit like gold from far away. Its walls were richly decorated with tapestries depicting the history and legends of the Rohirrim (information came from Aragorn). It all looked extremely beautiful, except for the dead looking man sitting on the throne.

"So we are here to free _him_?" whispered Alex to no one in particular.

"Yes," said Gandalf.

"Are you sure he's still with us?" asked Alejandro. I have to admit, he looked a bit on dead side.

"He is," said Gandalf. "The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King."

"Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?" asked the King in a wheezy voice.

"A just question my liege," said Grima. He looked worse in real life than in the movie. He had very greasy hair and pale skin. He stood and started to walk towards us. "Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell I name him. Ill news is in ill guest."

"**I see that he is deserving of that name,"** whispered Bob.

"Be silent!" said Gandalf. "Keep your forked tongue behind you teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy gird words with a witless worm!"

"Why a worm?" asked Paige. "He first said forked tongue, but worms don't have tongues."

"I guess because that's his name," I said. He was so close that I saw his teeth were a bit pointed and yellow. Even though he was still a bit far away from us, we could smell his breath. I could tell the others smelled it because they shuddered a bit and turned away. He backed away when Gandalf raised his staff, though, so we didn't have to smell it for long.

"His staff!" said Grima. "I told you to take the wizard's staff!"

The guys started to fight the guards, while we watched since we couldn't fist fight. Paige shook my shoulder and pointed to a man that was about to attack Gandalf. I made a force shield around the man so he walked into the shield. We laughed quietly until there were no more guards.

"Théoden, Son of Thengel," said Gandalf. "Too long have you sat in the shadows."

Then we turned when we heard a grunt. We saw Gimli pin Grima to the ground.

"I would stay still if I were you," said Gimli.

"Attend to me," said Gandalf. "I will release you from the spell."

Then the King started to laugh a very spine chilling laugh.

"You have no power here Gandalf the Grey," said the King, or Saruman through him. He continued to laugh until Gandalf threw aside his grey robe to reveal his white robe. Théoden leaned back into his chair and started to squirm.

"I will draw you," said Gandalf, "Saruman as poison is drawn from a wound."

He cried out, but that didn't stop Gandalf from approaching him. I heard a gasp and saw Eowyn try to rush to her uncle, only to be stopped by Aragorn.

"**Lady,"** said Bob. **"Do not meddle with the affairs of Wizards."**

"If I go," said Saruman, "Théoden dies."

"You did not kill me," said Gandalf as he flung Théoden into his throne. "You will not kill him."

"Rohan is mine," said Saruman.

"Be gone!" cried Gandalf. Then Théoden tried to lung at Gandalf, but instead he flew back into his chair. Aragorn then let Eowyn rush to her uncle, who was turning younger again.

"He still looks old," said Alex when the King was done changing.

"Alex," said Boromir, "you cannot insult a King."

"Gandalf?" asked Théoden.

"Breathe the free air again, my friend," said Gandalf.

"Dark have been my dreams of late," he said.

"Also the way your people dress," said Alejandro.

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword," said Gandalf. Then Hama brought Théoden his sword. He drew the sword, and then he turned his gaze to Grima. He had him thrown out of the castle and as he fell down the stairs, we came out and watched. Let me tell you, a lot of people nearly cheered when they saw him being thrown out.

"I've only ever served you my lord," he said when stopped rolling.

"Your witchcraft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!" said Théoden.

"Send me not from your side!" cried Grima. The King raised his sword to kill him, but was stopped by Aragorn.

"No my lord!" he said as he stopped the sword from coming down. "No my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been spilt on his account."

Seeing his chance to run, Grima left and run off through the crows, saying 'get out of my way' all the while.

"You know, Aragorn," cried Alejandro. "An arrow doesn't spill as much blood as a sword!"

Aragorn just shot him a look that said, 'really?' He turned and said aloud for everyone present to hear, "Hail, Théoden King!"

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Follow their lead," whispered Paige. We bowed, which was awkward because we've never done that before. I saw Théoden ask something to no one in particular, and I'm guessing it's about his son. The funeral was pretty ordinary, except for the fact that we could see the body. The grave entrance was shaped a bit like the entrance to a dolmen. They put the body in the grave and Eowyn began to sing a lament. Let me tell that she may have a soft voice when talking, but when she sings she sounds like an Opera singer.

After the funeral, Gandalf stayed behind with Théoden. While they spoke, Eowyn brought us some food. When we saw that food, we ate like wolves. The others looked at us with curious expressions and Alejandro answered them.

'We have eaten nothing but dried meat, fruit, and Lembas bread," he said. They nodded their heads in understanding, and Aragorn looked at us hard and spoke in a stern voice.

"You four-"

"**Five,"** interrupted Bob.

"You _five _have a lot to explain," he continued.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Paige.

"Daniela said something about the quest being a story," said Boromir. "Who are you really?"

"Looks like we have to come clean," said Alejandro with a sigh. "You see, we're psychic."

"Is that true?" asked Legolas. "Have you the power of foresight like Lord Elrond?"

"No," said Alex. "We can't lie to you guys anymore. We're actually from a whole different world. In that world this quest is nothing but s story for entertaining people."

"I've read the story," I said. "And I know exactly what is going to happen next. Gandalf knows this, and so does Lord Elrond, but they told us not to speak of it."

"There's a secret team of people called S.P.A," said Alejandro. "They make sure that stories aren't changed when the bad guy tries to change them. Bob's an imaginary friend that can't be seen by anyone in the story, like you guys."

"And he's actually an agent of S.P.A," said Paige. "We were sent here by the Darkness, the bad guy, to change the story. Bob was sent here to make sure we didn't change the story. But we did change it."

"**Lucero changed the story when she saved Boromir,"** said Bob. **"He was supposed to die when Merry, Pippin and the girls were kidnapped."**

Boromir paled a little at this, and the others were staring at us with wide eyes. I guess it really was shocking because they didn't speak for some time.

"You know if the ring will be destroyed?" asked Aragorn.

"If we tell you the future," I said. "It will cause something worse to happen. We have to let things go as they are supposed to go."

"**This is nearly impossible because we still have Boromir,"** said Bob. **"It makes my job even harder."**

"What shall happen then?" asked Boromir.

"We can't just kill you," said Alejandro. "We'll just have to see."

Then Gandalf walked in with Théoden and two children.

"Don't tell Gandalf," said Paige. "I really don't want to see what he'll do to us if he finds out."


	19. Leaving Edoras

"They had no warning," said Eowyn. "They were unarmed. Now the wildmen are moving through westfold, burning as they go, every rick, cot and tree."

When Gandalf, Théoden and the two kids arrived Eowyn went to their side and gave the kids soup. The oldest told us what happened to his village. The little girl said something that I couldn't hear, but I'm sure she asked where her mother was.

"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash," said Gandalf. "All the more potent for he is driven mad by the fear of Sauron. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight."

"And it's not like you have a lot of choices," said Alejandro. He was ignored by most, except Théoden who glared at him.

"You have 2000 good men riding north as we speak," said Aragorn. "Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king."

"He is right," said Boromir. "You can ask for their help. They shall come if you send for them."

"They will be 300 leagues from here by now," said Théoden. "Eomer cannot help us. I know what is that you want of me. But I would not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."

"Open war is upon you, whether would risk it or not," said Aragorn. Théoden turned to him and started to walk towards him.

"When last I looked," he said. "Théoden, not Aragorn, was King of Rohan."

Then there came a loud burp followed by two other burps. I didn't have to look to see who it was, I had a hunch. One thing that came from this was that it brought the awkward moment following that statement.

"Then what is the king's decision?" asked Gandalf. Théoden told us his 'brilliant' idea and we left following Gandalf. He wasn't mad or anything, but he said he had work to do.

"By order of the King," said Hama as we made our way to the stables. "The city must empty. Make for the refuge of Helm's Deep. Do not burden yourself with treasures. Take only what provisions you need."

"Helm's Deep!" said Gimli indignantly. "They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king?"

"He is only doing what he thinks is best for his people," defended Aragorn once we reached the stables. "Helm's Deep has saved them in the past."

"The real question is will it save them _this_ time," said Alex.

"What's so bad about Helm's Deep?" asked Paige.

"There is no way out than that of ravine," said Gandalf. "Théoden is walking into a trap. He thinks he is leading them to safety, but what he'll get is a massacre. Théoden has a strong hold but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need you before the end Aragorn. The people of Rohan will need you. The defenses have to hold."

"They will hold," said Aragorn. Gandalf turned to Shadowfax and said, "The Grey Pilgrim. That is what they used to call me. 300 lives of men I've walked this earth and now, I have no time. Good luck. My search will not be in vain. Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day, at dawn, look to the East."

"Go," said Aragon quietly. Gandalf didn't have to be told twice because he rode out of the stables the second he was done. Aragorn went back to the Golden Hall, and since we didn't have much to do, we followed.

They were packing all the wall decorations and stuff like that. We saw somebody who needed help, and so we went to help them out. We saw Eowyn take out a sword from a chest and began to practice with it. She swung around and Aragorn blocked her swing with his knife.

"You have some skill with a blade," he said. We were close enough to hear, so you can say we were eavesdropping. She continued her swing and could've disarmed Aragorn if he wasn't a master swordsman.

"Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them," she said as she sheath the weapon. "I fear neither death nor pain."

"What do you fear my lady?" asked Aragorn.

"A cage," she said. "To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."

"You are a daughter of kings," he said. "A shieldmaiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate."

She smiled and left. Once she was out of earshot, we walked over to him.

"**That's gonna come back and bite you,"** said Bob.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She's gonna develop a crush on you," said Alex.

"A crush?" Aragorn said.

"She's gonna develop feelings for you," I said.

"And that is gonna be trouble," said Paige in a singsong voice. Aragorn just shook his head and walked toward the doorway.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," said Alejandro. Aragorn motioned for us to follow, and we left the Golden Hall. We began to leave the city and after some time, we went over to where Eowyn and Gimli were at.

"It's true you don't see many dwarf women," said Gimli. "And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance; they are often mistaken for dwarf men."

"**You are finally taller than us,"** said Bob. Gimli just shot me, or the puppet, a glare and was about to say something, but didn't.

"It must be hard to date among dwarves," said Alejandro. Eowyn glanced behind us and we looked as well. Aragorn mouthed, 'It's the beards,' which got us smirking.

"And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women," said Gimli. "And the dwarves just, spring out of holes in the ground. This is of course ridiculous. Whoa!"

We all watched as he was taken away by the horse that he was riding. We also laughed as he fell off the horse and landed with a thump.

"I think I could feel the earth shake," said Paige.

"It's alright!" he said. "It's alright. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate."

"Or so he claims," I said. We all waited for Aragorn as he came over to us.

"We told you so," said Alex when he saw Eowyn looked over at us.

"She does not have feelings for me," he said.

"We'll just have to wait and see," I said.

'Do you know if it will happen?" he asked.

"**Like she said, 'we'll have to wait and see,'"** said Bob. We went over to where Eowyn and Gimli were at, leaving Aragorn to his own musings. After some more time, we all rested. We were sitting with Legolas and Gimli while Aragorn stood a bit to the side. Then I saw Eowyn walking towards his and I knew what was about to happen.

"If Eowyn comes over and asks us if we want soup," I said. "Do not say yes."

"Why?" asked Paige.

"Watch Aragorn," was all I said. We were within earshot so we were able to hear the conversation. When they saw what he did to his soup, the boys, Paige and I had to bite their lips to keep from laughing. Gimli and Boromir chuckled and Legolas hid a grin. The boys and Paige nearly choked on their food when they found out Aragorn was 87 years old.

"You're 87 years old?" asked Alex after Eowyn left.

"Yes," he said.

"You're as old as my grandfather," said Alejandro.

"You're older than my grandfather," I said. He only smirked and announced that we had to get going. Théoden had already announced this but we didn't hear. After a couple more hours or so, we were walking near the front with Legolas. I don't know where the others were at and I couldn't see them over all the people. Legolas started to move forward to scout ahead when he heard a scream. He left the mound he was standing on and went to help who ever needed help.

"A scout!" we heard him shout. That was enough to send everyone into a panic. Women started screaming and children began to cry.

"All riders to the head of the column!" I heard Théoden cry out.

"C'mon get me up here, I'm a rider." I turned and saw Gimli trying to get on top of a horse. I would've thought it comical if we weren't under attack. Alejandro and the others thought it comical though, which didn't help a lot.

"What do we do?" I asked. We technically weren't riders since we Paige, Alejandro and I couldn't ride horses and we couldn't fight on horseback.

"We fight, duh," said Alejandro.

"We can't fight on horseback," said Paige. Then Aragorn and Boromir grabbed Paige and I by the collar of our shirts and lifted us onto their horses. Alex found a horse and climbed onto it with Alejandro. Bob got on a horse with a soldier we didn't know and we rode off. Legolas got on the horse Gimli was on with some cool trick.

"How did he do that?" asked Paige.

"He's an elf," I said. "They are mysterious and strange creatures."


	20. Warg attack and preparations

I don't know how we survived all of this, but we did it. Gimli managed to get stuck under a warg and Orc, and Paige and I had to help him out. Boromir covered us while we removed the bodies. We were gagging because they smelled terrible and Gimli threatened us with death if we retched all over him. We continued to fight, and I couldn't find the boys and Aragorn. At last the fight was nearing its end and we started to look for everyone.

We found Bob bandaging Alex's arm and Alejandro holding Bob's bag.

"What happened?" asked Paige.

"He was trying to be the hero," said Alejandro, "and got hurt doing it."

"It doesn't matter whether I got hurt or not," he said. "As long as I looked good doing it."

"Are you seriously making a joke about it?" I said. "You could have been killed."

"Well, I'm alive, aren't I," he said.

"**There," **said Bob. **"I'm finished. Try not to reopen it. Hey, where are the others?"**

We looked around and spotted the others near an Orc and a cliff.

"This is the part where they find out Aragorn fell off the cliff," I said.

"Is he, you know?" asked Paige.

"No, just hurt," I said. "We should go over there."

We walked over to them and saw them mourning our fallen leader.

"Get the wounded on horses," said Théoden as he made his way over to us. "The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead."

"You can't just leave the dead," said Alex after he saw Legolas and Boromir glare at the King.

"Yeah," said Alejandro. "You should at least have some sort of ceremony."

"**You can't leave them to become warg food,"** said Bob. **"It's not respectful."**

"We have no time," said Théoden. "They will come back and if we linger there will be another massacre."

He turned and left. We all reluctantly followed him and helped with the wounded.

"Don't these people have respect for their dead?" asked Paige.

"Apparently no," I said, "since they are leaving the dead to become an afternoon meal."

"We cannot go against the King," said Boromir. From his tone I think he was trying to convince himself of his words. "No matter how we feel."

"**He's not your king or ours" **pointed out Bob.

"Aragorn would've wanted us to protect his people," he said.

"He is right," said Legolas. "We must do as Aragorn would've wanted us to do."

When we arrived at the Keep, we were all exhausted and the boys were in foul moods.

"Where are our damn rooms?" asked Alejandro.

"You have a foul mouth for one so young," commented Legolas.

"Many people in our world curse at an early age," said Alex.

"Although some of us prefer to keep our foul language to ourselves," I said.

"There will come a day when you curse aloud," said Paige. I just shook my head and we made our way to where Gimli and Eowyn were at. When we arrived we were able to catch some of the conversation.

"-where is he?" asked Eowyn.

"He fell," said Gimli. He sounded very heart broken. She looked to Théoden with a very heart breaking expression.

"Draw all our forces behind the wall," he said. "Bar the gate, and set a watch on the surround."

"What of those who cannot fight my lord?" asked a guard, "the women and children?"

"Get them into the caves," answered the King. "Saruman's arm would have grown long indeed if he thinks he can reach us here."

"Is he seriously putting the women and children in _caves_?" asked Alex.

"Only to keep them safe," said Boromir.

"How are they supposed to escape if, you know," whispered Paige.

"We shall not allow them to get pass the defenses," said Boromir.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We were walking past what I think was Isengard, which looked like a giant spike with three horns on top.

"Look!" said Pippin suddenly. "There's smoke to the south!"

"There is always smoke rising up from Isengard these days," said Treebeard.

"Isengard?" asked Merry. I guess we weren't the only ones who didn't know.

"There was a time," said Treebeard, "when Saruman would walk in my woods, but now, he has a mind of metal and wheels."

The Hobbits and Lucero climbed higher to get a view of Isengard.

"He no longer cares for growing things," he said.

"It looks like there's a large mass moving away from Isengard," Lucero said loud enough for us to hear.

"What is it?" asked Pippin.

"It's Saruman's army!" said Merry. "The war has started!"

"What about the others?" asked Cynthia. "They don't know."

"They probably do know," I said. "After all, Gandalf _is _with them."

"I hope you're right," said Lucero, "because if that is an army, then it's huge."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We rushed into the yard when we heard a guard call out that a lone rider was arriving. It only met one thing, Aragorn finally came back.

"Where is he?" said Gimli as he made his way to him. "Where is he? Get out of my way! I'm gonna kill him! You are the luckiest, the canniest, and most reckless man I ever knew!"

Then Gimli hugged Aragorn. We finally got past others and were with those two.

"Bless you, laddie!" he said.

"Gimli, where is the king?" asked Aragorn. Gimli nodded towards the Keep.

"Took you long enough," said Paige as we moved inside.

"I apologize for not coming faster," he said. He then ran into Legolas who said something in Elvish.

"He said 'You're late'," said Paige.

"You look terrible," he said.

"You just now noticed that?" asked Alex. Aragorn ignored us and placed his hand on Legolas' shoulder. Legolas looked down to his hand and Aragorn followed his gaze. Legolas held out Aragorn's necklace from Arwen. He grabbed it and left to go to the throne room. He entered the throne room and everyone was surprised to see him alive. He then told us his news.

"A great host, you say?" said Théoden.

"All Isengard is emptied," said Aragorn.

""How many?" asked the King.

"Ten thousand strong at least," he answered. Théoden turned to him with a shocked expression.

"Ten-thousand?" Théoden repeated.

"It is an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of Men," said Aragorn. "They will be here by nightfall."

"**What are we going to do?"** asked Bob.

""Let them come," said Théoden.

"But we don't want them to come," said Paige. He just ignored her and walked outside.

"I want every man and strong lad able to bear arms," he said as he walked, "to be ready for battle by nightfall. We will cover the causeway and the gate from above. No army has ever breached the Deeping wall or set foot inside the Hornburg."

"This is no rabble of mindless Orcs," said Gimli. "These are Uruk-hai. Their armor is thick and their shields broad."

"I have fought many wars," said Théoden, "Master Dwarf. I know how to defend my own keep."

"But the Uruk-hai are worse than Orcs," said Alex. "They are stronger and smarter!"

But he just ignored him and kept walking. He headed towards what I think were the barracks.

"They will break upon this fortress like water on rock," he continued. "Saruman's hordes will pillage and burn. We've seen it before. Crops can be re-sown. Homes rebuilt. Within these walls, we will outlast them."

"They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages," said Aragorn. "They come to destroy its people. Down to the last child!"

"If they wanted to destroy your villages," said Alejandro, "they would've started a wildfire! Anything can burn in a place like this."

"What would you have me do?" said Théoden, obviously ignoring that last comment. "Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance!"

"**But who will be left to remember if they all die?"** asked Bob.

"Send out riders, my lord," said Aragorn. "You must call for aid."

"And who will come?" asked Théoden. "Elves? Dwarves? We are not so lucky in our friends as you. The old alliances are dead."

"Gondor will answer," said Boromir. Bob and I let out a gasp because Aragorn was supposed to say that. "My father will send out any available warriors."

"Gondor?" said Théoden. "Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Gon- No, my lord Boromir, we are alone."

"Not if you ask for help," I said.

"Now I can see why our teachers make a huge deal about asking for help," said Paige. Théoden just shook his head and left us standing there.

"Get the women and children into the caves," we heard Théoden call out to Gamling.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

We were still riding on Treebeard when we arrived at a clearing. Lucero, Cynthia and I got off and started to stretch our legs because we were sore. The Hobbits chose to remain on Treebeard.

"The Ents have not troubled about the wars of men and wizards for a very long time," said Treebeard. "But now something is about to happen that has not happened for an age-Ent moot."

"What's that?" asked Merry.

"It is a gathering," he said.

"A gathering of what?" Merry asked again. Then Ents began to come from the forest and surround us. We all gave a little start because they didn't look a lot like Treebeard at all. A few did. But they still looked a bit different.

"Beech, Oak, Chestnut, Ash," he said. "Good, good, good many have come. Now we must decide if the Ents will go to war."

"I say they should," I said to Lucero.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Farmers, farriers, stable boys," said Aragorn as he looked around at the people assembled at what I think was the armory or something. "These are no soldiers."

"Most have seen too many winters," said Gimli.

"Or too few," said Legolas. "Look at them. They're frightened. I can see it in their eyes."

"You're not helping," I said. Everyone in the room turned towards them. Then he began to speak in Elvish and Paige began to translate.

"'And they should be' said Legolas," she whispered to us, "'300 against 10 000'. Aragorn is saying, 'they have a better chance defending themselves here than in Edoras.' Legolas is now saying, 'They cannot win this fight. They are all going to die'."

"Then I shall die as one them," cried out Aragorn.

Aragorn and Legolas stared at each other. Aragorn began walk away from Legolas. He tried to go after him, but Gimli stopped him.

"Let him go, lad. Let him be," said Gimli. We watched as Aragorn vanished from our view when Legolas turned to us. He spoke in Elvish, probably aware that Paige can understand.

"We can't tell you," she said, so we were able to guess what he was asking.

"You can't just give up hope," said Alex. "You're a warrior prince for crying out loud! You've probably been through worse. Trust me; it will all turn out alright."

"They are right," said Boromir. "As long as we have faith, we can make it out of this storm."

"After every storm, is a golden sky," I said, remembering a line from a song I once heard. "What? It sounded like something good to say. Besides, we have you four and our powers, what could go wrong?"

"Our powers could suddenly disappear," said Paige.

"**Not helping,"** said Bob. **"And you also have the best agent the S.P.A has."**

"We should go look for Aragorn," said Alejandro. "He's probably better now."

We went to the actual armory and found him putting on some leather armor. Legolas spotted his sword and grabbed it. When Aragorn was going to strap it on, he turned and saw us. Legolas gave him the sword and apologized.

"We have trusted you this far and you have not led us astray," he said. "Forgive me. I was wrong to despair."

Aragorn then said something in Elvish and we all looked at Paige to translate. I think she was getting tired of this.

"Aragorn just said that there was nothing to forgive," said Paige. Then Gimli walked over to us with chain mail on.

"Whoa, Gimli," said Alejandro. "Since when do you have-?"

"Don't even say what I think you're about to say," Paige said.

"It looks like it," he defended.

"Well, don't say it aloud," I said.

"What was he going to say?" asked Gimli.

"He was going to say that he didn't know you had such a great beard," I said. It was the best I could come up with.

"We have been traveling together for a long time," said Boromir, "and he chose now to say that?"

"We were a bit preoccupied trying to stay alive," said Paige. "We're not all great warriors or experts on staying alive."

"Well, if we had time, I'd get this adjusted," said Gimli, and then it fell to its full size. "It's a little tight across the chest."

We all smiled at him. Then we heard a horn from outside.

"That is no Orc horn!" said Legolas. They rushed out and we went after them. We heard a man cry, 'open the gate.'

"Who is it?" asked Paige.

"**The Elves of Lorien,"** said Bob. Then we saw the Elves coming in through the gates. The Men stared in awe and I guess were feeling hopeful since most of them were smiling.

"How is this possible?" asked Théoden who arrived before us.

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell," said Haldir. "An alliance once existed between elves and men. Long ago we fought and died together. We come to honor that allegiance."

We all rushed down the stairs towards them. Paige didn't need to translate what Aragorn said because it was pretty obvious. He bowed to him and then embraced him. Haldir looked a little surprised, but returned the gesture.

"You are most welcome," said Aragorn. Paige decided to be part of that moment and went to hug him too. I also did, but I was a bit more dramatic about.

"_I'm so sorry Haldir," _I said. _"I'm sorry I'm letting you die. You weren't even supposed to die but I have to let you die. I'm sorry. _Just watch your back."

"It's nice to see you again children," he said. He looked to Aragorn to explain, but he just shrugged. Legolas also came down the stairs and he too embraced Haldir. The army of elves turned and lowered their bows and shields.

"We are proud to fight alongside men, once more," said Haldir. Now I felt even worse about letting him die such a painful death.


	21. Battle of Helms Deep, part 1

The battle was about to begin. Théoden tried to get me and Paige to go with Eowyn earlier, but Aragorn came to our rescue. He told him that we would be a big help. After some arguing, he let us join in the fight. Eowyn was furious that we could help but she couldn't but Paige and I helped her get through it.

"Théoden is the King of Rohan," Paige said, "and you are a citizen of Rohan. We are not, so what Théoden said doesn't apply to us."

"He said all women and children into the caves," Eowyn said.

"Look, Eowyn," I said. "Your time will come. You will join battle, and we will help you do it. But this is not the battle in which you can help in. You will know which battle you can be in is, but it is not in this one. Please, you have to understand."

After some more arguing, she reluctantly understood and went into the caves. After that we looked for Aragorn and he told us we had to be with him while Alex and Alejandro were with Legolas and Gimli. Thankfully they weren't that far away but we couldn't move so that we could talk with them. Boromir was with us as well while Bob was with the others since we didn't know whether or not Alex had any powers. Aragorn placed us with the Elven archers and I told him what I taught about his decision.

"Why am I with the archers?" I asked him. "Didn't Legolas tell you I nearly killed Erestor while we were training in Rivendell?"

"He did," he said, "but there are many that have not handled a bow before. Who knows? Who knows? You might hit an Orc."

"I highly doubt that," I said. The Elven archers at first looked us up and down, but after a while they stopped looking at us. I guess they weren't used to human girls fighting alongside them. It was really quiet so Paige and I spoke quietly.

"So this it, huh?" she said. "This may be the end for us."

"Possibly. Paige, if we die here, there is something I need to say."

"What is it?"

"I have no regrets whatsoever, except going to Mexico by plane. I knew we should have gone a bus or car. Nothing ever happens if you go by bus or car. If we had gone by car or bus we wouldn't be here. Somebody else would be here."

"Yeah, but we wouldn't be having the most amazing adventure anyone's ever had."

"I guess you're right. I also regret not writing a will. I knew I should have written one while in Rivendell. Do you have anything to say about this?"

"I regret nothing. What about you Boromir? Do you regret anything?"

That's when I remembered the Man was with us.

"Well," he said, "I regret not being able to protect my country…and not being able to tell my brother I love him."

"I'm pretty sure he knows that," I said. "But don't worry; your path might lead you to him. That is if you don't die here."

After that, silence. I guess that came out wrong.

"So," Paige said as she tried to break the awkward silence, "what was all that about earlier? Why were you apologizing to Haldir?"

"Is that what you were doing?" Boromir asked.

"Yeah," I said. I guess I could tell them because the Elves around us couldn't understand us and hopefully Legolas isn't listening in on us. "Haldir won't survive this."

"And you're going to nothing?" Boromir said.

"We can't change the story anymore," I said. "I mean, it's bad enough you're still here. I mean, you still being here isn't a mistake, it's like an unexpected blessing of sorts."

I can't believe I just said that. At least Boromir didn't look hurt.

"Isn't that weird," Paige said.

"What's weird?" I asked. Thank goodness she changed the subject.

"That Haldir is going to die," she said. "I remember you complaining and going on an entire speech on how Haldir was wrongly killed in the movie. You said it wasn't even fair because the Elves weren't even in this battle. That Peter Jackson wrongly killed him. Remember?"

"Oh yeah," I said. "I was so mad."

"What is Paige talking about?" asked Boromir.

"In the movie," I said, "the moving pictures with sound and color, Haldir and the Elves came to help and Haldir died. But in the book Eomer is already here and Gandalf went to find more Men. The Elves didn't help in the battle of Helm's Deep, it was Men."

That got me thinking, we weren't exactly going by the book, it was more of the movie. But I couldn't really think about it because the enemy arrived. It was a sea of reeking bodies and some torches. It was like a nightmare.

"That's a whole lot of ugly," Paige said. I had to agree because they were hideous. They sounded like thunder with their roaring and shouting.

"Well," Paige said, "it was nice knowing you guys."

"Ditto," I said. I honestly didn't believe we could survive this, but we did have hope with us. Hopefully Aragorn will help us stay alive. Then it started to rain. As if things weren't bad enough.

"Well isn't that nice," Paige said. "We aren't just going to die a painful death, but we're also going to die in a watery grave. Wonderful."

Then Aragorn started to shout something in Elvish. I looked over at Paige who held up a hand.

"You don't have to ask," she said. "He's saying, 'Show them no mercy! For you shall receive none!' Why did he have to state the obvious? Everyone knows they won't be getting mercy."

"Don't question the future King of Gondor," I said. "Even though you are completely right."

The Uruk-hai stopped where they stood and started to pound their shields with their spears. All the archers prepared and had their bows positioned to fire. Then an old man accidently fired. I didn't see him do it, but I knew it happened because the Uruk-hai stopped.

"What happened?" Boromir asked.

"An old man accidently claimed first blood," Paige said. "He's a better shot than you, by the way, Daniela. Wait, Aragorn just told us to hold. And now he's telling us to fire."

We started to fire and Paige continued to translate for us. Boromir didn't have a bow, but he did listen to Paige's translations. He yelled the translations to any nearby Men. Then the Uruk-hai started to fire. I saw an Elf die and realized something. I can use my powers to help them. I told my plan to Paige and I put my bow down.

"What are you doing?" Boromir asked.

"Saving lives," I said. I made small force shields for the Elves around us. They gave me weird looks when arrows meant for them came in contact with the shields and dropped.

"Ladders," Paige said. She left and went to the nearest ladder. She hit it until it broke. Looks like our powers are really going to save lives.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Ents were still in their Ent moot and we were dying of boredom. I don't know how long it had been since they started talking, but I do know it was a long, long time ago. I could understand them, but whatever they were saying was taking a long time. It was as if they were talking in slow motion. I gave up trying to understand them a long time ago. Then Treebeard approached us.

"Merry," Pippin said. I nudged the others since they decided to nap.

"We have just agreed," Treebeard said. He then paused dramatically. This was an annoying habit of his.

"Yes?" we said.

"I have told your names to the Ent moot and we have agreed: you are not Orcs."

"Well, there goes at least a few good hours of my life I can't get back," Lucero said. I agreed. They wasted all this time arguing if we were _Orcs?_ Have they even _seen_ an Orc? Because we look_ nothing_ like Orcs.

"Well, that's good news," Pippin said. His cluelessness was adorable, but right now it didn't help.

"And what about Saruman?" Merry said. "Have you come to a decision about him?"

"Now don't be hasty, Master Merry," Treebeard said. Were all Ents dropped on their heads when they were little?

"Hasty?" Merry said. "Our friends are out there. They need our help! They cannot fight this war on their own."

"War, yes," he said. "It affects us all. But you must understand young hobbit. It takes a long time to say anything in old Entish, and we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say."

"Then speak English or whatever language we're speaking right now," I said. They had to hurry up. Our friends might be dying right now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Uruk-hai had made it up to the wall and right now, Paige and I were fighting together. I helped her get close enough to any ladders and she hit them as hard as she could. I couldn't see the others and that pretty much made me nervous. Paige still had her bow and quiver and then we reached an open spot on the wall. We heard Aragorn yell something and Paige translated.

"'The Northway!'" she said. "What does that mean?"

"Fire that way," I said as I pointed to the gate where a group of Orcs were marching towards it. Paige understood and started to help the Elves by firing arrows at the Orcs. Then I saw some Orcs carrying something.

"Paige!" I cried. "We have to get everyone out of here."

"Why?" she asked.

"The bomb!" I said. Before all of this I made sure to tell her and the boys about the bomb and how they had to stay away. She understood and we started to herd everyone away. They couldn't understand us, but that didn't stop us. We kept on shooing them away, and then Paige spotted Aragorn.

"Aragorn tell them to get out!" she screamed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because they are going to die if you don't" I cried. Thank goodness he didn't question us any further.

He told everyone in Elvish to get out, or that's what Paige told me. Then he spotted the Orc carrying the torch Olympic style and told Legolas to shoot him. He did, but it didn't stop him. Good news, there was hardly anyone who got killed on the wall. Bad news, debris flew at us and Aragorn was nowhere in sight. Paige screamed and I looked at where she was pointing. Aragorn was lying unconscious on the ground. Then I saw Gimli jump down to help him after Aragorn got back up.

"Come on, we have to help them," Paige said. We jumped down after Gimli and started to help him.

"Gimli! Girls!" Aragorn cried. "Prepare to charge!"

We continued to fight, but then Gimli got hit and fell in to a pool.

"Paige, Daniela, get down!" he cried. We crouched and I formed a force shield around us. Then he cried something in Elvish.

"He said, 'hurl the arrows! Charge!'" Paige said. "I guess that's our cue."

The Elves attacked with Aragorn leading them. We all fought together and we were careful to stay with Gimli and Aragorn and help save some Elves.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"The Ents cannot hold back this war," Treebeard said. "We must weather such things as we have always done."

"You're just going to stand back?" asked Lucero.

"How can that be your decision?" Merry asked.

"This is not our war," Treebeard said.

"But your part of this world, aren't you?" asked Merry.

"You have to help," Lucero said.

"Sauron and Saruman will eventually attack Fangorn," I said. "Then it will be too late to do anything about it."

"They are right," Merry said. "You must help, please. You must do something."

"You are all young and brave" Treebeard said. "But your part in this tale is over. Go back to your home."

Merry and Pippin began to put on their coats while we waited for them to finish.

"I can't believe that's their decision," I said.

"I know, right," said Cynthia.

"Maybe Treebeard's right," Pippin said. "We don't belong here, Merry. It's too big for us. What can we do in the end? We've got the Shire. Maybe we should go home."

"Well, that's good for them," Cynthia said to us. "They belong here, we don't. Where are we supposed to go?"

"Shelby is right," Merry said. "The fires of Isengard will spread. And the woods of Tuckburough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone. There won't be a Shire"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

At this point, Boromir, the boys and Legolas had joined us at the bottom of the wall. We were still fighting when Théoden shouted at Aragorn.

"Aragorn, pull back to the gate!" he said. Then Aragorn started to say something to the Elves. Then he spotted Haldir at the top of the wall. He told him something in Elvish and Haldir nodded at him and called for the others. Gimli was dragged away against his will.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "Stop it!"

"Paige," I called over to her, "we have to get up there!"

"Why?" Aragorn asked.

"Haldir is going to die," Paige said. Together we started to run up there while Paige and I kept on screaming, "Haldir, watch your back!" When we reached the top, Haldir was about to be killed.

"Haldir!" Aragorn called out, but Haldir didn't die. At the last minute I made a force shield around his back. Aragorn killed the Orc that was going to kill Haldir while Paige and I went over to him. He wasn't seriously injured, but he did have a large cut on his arm. Aragorn helped us lift him and we took him to the Keep.

"You saved my life," he said to me. Man, I wish I had a tape recorder to record that.

"You can thank me now," I said.

"What happened to, 'thank me later'?" Paige asked.

"There might not be a later," I said. We ran to gate where Théoden was. We set Haldir down and Aragorn quickly dressed his wound.

"It's not very deep," he said. "Don't worry, Haldir; you'll live."

"Aragorn," I said, "you should help with the gate. Paige and I will keep Haldir safe and out of trouble."

He nodded and went to the king. He left with Gimli to the bridge.

"We better get him somewhere safer," Paige said. "Can you walk?"

"Yes," he said. Together we made our way to where Legolas was.

"Why are here?" asked Haldir. I was wondering the same thing.

"Aragorn and Gimli are going to need us," she said. "And the best way to keep Haldir safe is to stop the Uruk-hai."

Then we spotted Legolas and went over to him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We thought you might need an extra hand," Paige said. "Preferably ours, not Haldir's; his is injured."

"And you brought him here?"

"You need as many people as possible," I said. Then I heard Théoden tell Aragorn to get out. "You might want to throw some rope down there."

We started to pull them up, but even with Haldir helping us, it was hard. Those two were heavy. Once we got them onto the wall Aragorn began to usher all of us to the Keep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the Ent moot we climbed onto Treebeard and started to leave.

"I will leave you at the western borders of the forest," he said. "You can make your way north to your homeland from there."

"Wait! Stop! Stop!" Pippin cried. "Turn around. Turn around. Take us south!"

"South?" Treebeard asked. "But that will lead you past Isengard."

"Do you have a death wish?" I asked.

"No," he said. "If we go south we can slip past Saruman unnoticed. The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm."

"That doesn't make sense to me," Treebeard said. "But then, you are very small. Perhaps you're right. South it is then."

"Hold on, little Shirelings and ladies," he said as he turned around. "I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going downhill."

"Are you mad?" Merry whispered. "We'll be caught."

"Yeah," Cynthia whispered. "A large walking tree isn't exactly something you see every day."

"We won't be caught, no this time," Pippin said. He sounded very confident (which Lucero probably thinks is cute) but I hope he's right, because if he isn't, there's no hope of escape.


End file.
